Lemon Roasted Carrots and Parsnips

Lemon roasted carrots and parsnips are salty and sweet and get all caramelized and delicious as they roast.

We top them with a honey lemon dressing to make a side dish easy enough for a weeknight meal but  also fancy enough to be a side for your Easter (or Thanksgiving or Christmas) feast!

Filled in More Ways than Just with Food

I’ve been really craving the simple classic recipes of the past lately. It’s almost like a feeling of homesickness and nostalgia for childhood has started to grow inside of me. I don’t quite know what has triggered it or even what to do with it, but I’ve found myself looking back on life with a tenderness and fondness I haven’t ever had.

I was a living-with-one-foot-in-tomorrow-girl for most of my junior high and high school years. I think it was in part because I had two older sisters that were far enough apart from me in age that they were already off to college and I felt left behind. I know now that living that way isn’t the best idea, but I have to be mindful now of not looking back with the same feelings. 

Being present, breathing in happiness right now instead of waiting for it or missing it from yesterday has become really important to me. Part of merging all of my worlds into one has been a bringing together of recipes we used to love but have gotten distracted with new, modern ideas. Roasted carrots and parsnips might seem old-school, but I bet you’ll be filled in more ways than just with food by making them. 

Ingredients for Roasted Carrots and Parsnips

The ingredients are simple and few. Here is what you will need:

• Carrots: You can peel them if you want but it is not necessary.
• Parsnips: If the parsnips are really thick, cut them in half so they closely match the size of the carrots.
• Garlic: Keep the cloves whole and in the peel so they can roast with the veggies.
• Olive Oil: Helps the veggies caramelize to golden perfection.
• Kosher Salt: Enhances the flavors of the vegetables.

Dressing

• White Wine Vinegar: If you don’t have it, red wine vinegar makes the best substitute or rice wine vinegar (not seasoned) will also work great.
• Lemon Zest: Adds a bright and fresh punch of flavor that pairs so well with root vegetables.
• Honey: Adds natural sweetness and thickens the dressing.
• Parsley: Fresh is preferred but if you have to use dried, use 1 teaspoon.

Do Parsnips Need to Be Parboiled Before Roasting?

Normally I would say no, but we like to parboil both the carrots and parsnips for this recipe. Then dry them thoroughly and let the oven do all the work roasting and caramelizing them. Parboiling cuts down on the roasting time and lets the caramelization happen perfectly.

Should I Peel Parsnips Before Roasting Them?

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I spent a few days this week cooking and photographing recipes with Lynne and as always, we had a great time of it. We laughed until we cried, stayed up way too late, and ate a lot of great food.

I’m sitting by our front window this morning with my cup of coffee, looking out at the fog, and listening to the birds singing outside. The weather is supposed to be in the 60s today too, and there is no rain in the forecast. Could spring actually be on its way at last??

ON THE BLOG this week: If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you likely know that we eat a lot of chicken. I’ve shared over 150 chicken recipes already and there isn’t an end in sight. These juicy, oven baked chicken thighs turn out exactly right every time we make them and they get made at least once a month.

Light and slightly tangy creamy pasta salad, with just enough dressing to coat the noodles and vegetables, this is one heck of an awesome summer pasta salad. (And it’s a perfect match for those chicken thighs any night of the week.)

Light, crispy, and flaky air fryer Brussels sprouts chips are delightfully snackable and surprisingly satisfying. These chips are the snack you never knew you were missing! 

Are you getting tired of pot pie recipes? I hope not, because I can’t get enough of them lately. Straight from the oven, this biscuit-topped chicken pot pie casserole is downright mouthwatering with its piping hot filling of tender chicken and vegetables, topped with flaky, golden-brown biscuits.

My youngest son requested this cauliflower dish again this week. With a sprinkling of cheese, a light cream sauce, and a crispy buttery bread crumb topping, I will happily be making it this weekend.

With just 3 ingredients and about 2 minutes of effort, you can make this salty, sweet, completely irresistible peanut butter ice cream topping. I’m willing to bet that you’ll find yourself pouring it over everything.

Does anyone not have this cookie recipe from their grandmother? Oats, peanut butter, chocolate chips, M&Ms, and a drop of maple syrup all combine to make my grandmother’s Monster Cookies.

Once you’ve made the peanut butter sauce and stashed a stack of cookies away, you need to churn a batch of Monster Cookie Ice Cream. Swirled with chunks of peanut butter and loaded with cookies, this is the

Swirled with chunks of peanut butter and loaded with cookies, Monster Cookie Ice Cream is a perfect balance of salty-sweet. It will leave you craving just one more bite every time you make it.

“You had me at Monster Cookies” should probably be written somewhere as my brother Karl’s catchphrase. For as long as I can remember, Monster Cookies have been his thing.

My grandmother’s recipe has been passed down and adapted and remade endlessly into new desserts for our family.

Monster Cookie Ice Cream

Monster Cookie Ice Cream has earned “best ice cream ever” comments from the family each time I’ve made it. It’s the latest in our line-up of monster cookie inspired desserts and it just might be the greatest.

There are a couple of things to note before you make this ice cream. First, I recommend skipping the M&M’s on top of the cookies when you bake them. I’m not a big fan of the candies when frozen whole into the ice cream.

Instead, roughly chop a handful of M&M’s to scatter into the ice cream or purchase mini M&M candies to use. All the classic Monster Cookie flavors will be there without any rock-hard candies to deal with in the mix.

Second, don’t skip the peanut butter sauce. It adds a whole new depth of flavor to the ice cream that is truly memorable.

When poured into the ice cream, the peanut butter mixture will firm and harden into something akin to magic shell. The shell it forms will melt smoothly when you b

Chewy and crisp, the best monster cookie recipe is loaded with all of our favorite cookie flavors.

Does anyone not have this cookie recipe from their grandmother? And doesn’t everyone think their recipe is the best? Oats, peanut butter, chocolate chips, M&Ms, and a drop of maple syrup all combine to make my grandmother’s Monster Cookies.

My friend Augusta and I compared our recipes years ago and laughed when they were almost identical.

Side note: We then proceeded to make and eat almost an entire batch on our own, we probably consumed half of it as raw cookie dough – yeah, these cookies are that good.

I grew up thinking that Monster cookies were exclusive to my own family and in the past 10-15 years, I’ve seen these all over the internet.

If you haven’t tasted them before, you are missing out on one of the best cookies ever.

I only make these cookies a few times a year, because I absolutely cannot eat just one (or two or three). I’ve been known to polish off so many I went to bed nauseous. (How’s that for a selling point? ha)

These cookies stay beautifully chewy when frozen. If you’re like me and like to stash cookies in the freezer for late-night cravings, this is the ultimate freezer cookie. As a result, that makes this the PERFECT cookie for ice cream sandwich making.

My brother Karl shares my weakness for these cookies and that’s all the excuse I need to make these every time he visits. And for a serious treat? You’re going to want to make these Monster Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches.

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