Fall Harvest
Discovering the Root of Flavor

Roasted Root Vegetable Hash

Ingredients:

1 cup small diced onions
2 cups small diced red-skinned potatoes (unpeeled)
2 cups small diced sweet potatoes or yams (peeled)
2 cups small diced parsnips (peeled)
2 cups small diced peeled rutabagas or turnips
1 cup small diced red bell pepper
4 Tbsp. olive oil
½ cup fresh chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine the onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, rutabagas, and bell peppers in a large roasting pan.  Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and toss well.

Roast vegetables uncovered for an hour, turning the vegetables every 20 minutes until tender.  Add the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve hot with red pepper sauce on the side (e.g. Tabasco).

Spicy Sweet Potato & Coconut Soup

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs. red sweet potato
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 onion chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 Tbsp. red curry paste
1 15 oz. can unsweetened coconut milk
3 cups vegetable broth
3 ½ Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. sea salt

Garnish:

1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
½ cup fresh parsley sprigs
¾ cup finely shredded, toasted coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put the sweet potatoes on the oven rack and bake for about 45 minutes or until tender.  Remove from oven and cool.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Sauté the onion and ginger for about 10 minutes, until onion is golden brown.  Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 minute.  Whisk in the coconut milk and broth, and gently bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat so that it’s just simmering, cover partially, and cook for 5 minutes.

Skin the sweet potatoes and cut into ¾ inch pieces.  Add them to the soup and cook for 5 more minutes.

Stir in the lemon juice and the salt.  Ladle soup into bowls, drizzle with the sesame oil and garnish with toasted coconut and parsley.

Recipes contributed by Christl Keller Carollo, a personal chef who caters to vegetarian, vegan and restricted diets. She can be reached at 248.990.2018 or ckcarollo@hotmail.com