Tomato Basil Parsnips

Today at work I asked one of my coworkers, Jan, to pick a vegetable and I would make up a dish.  This is a fun game.  I think everyone should play it once a week, if not more often, to up your creativity in the kitchen.  Jan picked parsnips.  

I dig me some parsnips.  If you haven't ever had one, the flavor is somewhere between a carrot and a potato.  I've used them in a vegetable chili, a savory bread pudding with butternut squash, and pureed with yukon golds.  I spent most of my afternoon racking my brains for a new way to use parsnips. 

A few other coworkers came up with some great ideas, some of which I intend to use in the near future, including chips, various purees and soups.  I've never had them carmelized.  I really wanted some tangy roasted cherry tomatoes.  Basil and garlic also sounded pretty damned good tonight, so I decided to toss it all together and here you have parsnips caramelized in basil and garlic with roasted tomatoes.  This dish goes well with my Breaded Chicken Thighs or tossed in some whole wheat pasta or soba noodles.

Ingredients:

5 parsnips, peeled and cut into bits-sized pieces

1 pint cherry tomatoes

2 pinches salt

2 tbsp olive oil + a drizzle

2 cloves garlic, crushed

handful of chopped fresh basil

½ tsp paprika

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Place tomatoes into a baking pan, drizzle with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt and roast for 20-25 minutes or until tomatoes burst and look wrinkly. Cook parsnips in microwave oven on high for 4 minutes to soften them slightly. In a saute pan add olive oil and crushed garlic cloves on medium heat to infuse the oil. Add parsnips, a pinch of salt and the basil to pan and raise heat to medium high to fry for 15 to 20 minutes, flipping the parsnips until all sides are carmelized. Remove tomatoes from oven and add to the saute pan and fry for another minute. Serve with a few basil leaves for garnish.