November was a busy month. I was home and away, out many evenings, catching up during the day. It felt like holiday celebration and fiscal year end all wrapped up together. I’m happy that December will be a quieter month, with some holiday fun and celebration along the way.
Amidst everything that was going on, I managed to make two CCC recipes in November and they were both delicious.
Parsnip and Ginger Soup
I’ve been filling the freezer with containers full of one or two servings of soup. I love making soup in cold weather, in big batches. It’s satisfying on the day it’s made, then the flavours develop over a day or two, making it even more delicious. I always try to put some away, though, for those days when it’s wet and miserable and I’m too cold and tired to cook from scratch. Those days, soup isn’t just satisfying, it’s sustaining.
This soup will be perfect for those days. It’s filling and spicy, fragrant with ginger and cardamom. The parsnips retain a little of their sharpness, which works in this soup. I froze some without adding any milk, the final step in the recipe, as soup freezes much better without it. I added a little almond milk to the soup we ate, to keep things vegan, then sprinkled a few toasted pumpkin seeds on top.
Even though I said the sharpness of the parsnips works in this soup, I’ll roast them the next time I make this. I think the caramelized sweetness of roasted parsnips would put this soup over the top for me.
Roasted New Potatoes with Two Mojo Sauces
We roast potatoes all the time, tossed in olive oil, herbs and spices, with cloves of garlic along for the ride. What we don’t do very often is make roasted potatoes the focus of an appetizer.
That’s a mistake I’m happy to have corrected. These potatoes are parboiled, then roasted tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. (I’d skip the boil next time, just because I love the crust that simply roasted potatoes develop.) Then, they’re served with two Canary Island inspired dipping sauces.
The first sauce,mojo cilantro, is garlicky and vegetal, creamy without any added dairy. It’s good enough that I’ll make it again, but it wasn’t the star of the show. That was the mojo picón. I roasted and peeled red bell peppers for this one and it was worth the effort. With hot chiles, cumin, and smoked paprika rounding out the flavours, this sauce is hard to stop eating. We should have roasted more potatoes.
Here’s to the start of a wonderful holiday season! I’m looking forward to reading all the CCC cooks’ posts.
Here are the links to the rest of the group’s posts for this month. I encourage you to check them out – you’ll meet some wonderful bloggers and get some great inspiration for vegetarian eating.
Have you checked out my holiday cookbook review series? There are copies of 5 great cookbooks up for grabs. You can find the links to the giveaways (as they go live) here.
One Wet Foot 
Dear Teresa, hope the month of December will bring a bit more peace and quiet – I down-sized the recipes to five for the month of December, I know we will all be so very busy at this time of year.
The parsnip soup was a huge hit and I love your idea of roasting the parsnips before getting started on the recipe – a nice option to keep in my mind when making this soup agian. The dipping sauces for the potatoes were also extremely favorably recieved at our house – no surprise you thought that you should have made more potatoes!
Wonderful post, glad you and Kevin enjoyed these dishes.
Enjoy December!
Andrea
Thanks, Andrea! It looks like December is going to be very busy, though in a very good way. So many things to do, people to visit, meals to share. I imagine it’s going to be a very busy and festive month for you, too!
Lovely choices for November from your kitchen! We enjoyed these at our home too. But I grilled the par boiled potato instead of roasting!
I think grilling the potato sounds like a great variation, Emily!
Hi Teresa, Both of your selections for the month look scrumptious. I make soups constantly in my kitchen so I’ll need to give that parsnip and ginger soup a go. The potato sauces also sound delicious and appear to have been favorably received by many in the group so I’ll put that on my to do list too.
Wishing you the best in the upcoming holiday season.
Thanks so much, Peggy! I recommend trying both of these dishes. And have a wonderful holiday season, too!
Hi Teresa, looks like you have been really busy, so nice December will be an easier month. Love, love your parsnip soup, wish I would have made it. The potato dish sounds wonderful too, not sure why I did not make it as I am a huge fan of them. Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays, Cheri! The potato dish was a huge hit for us, especially. Hope you can fit it in soon.
November *was* a totally crazy month here too. Not that December is about to give us a breather! The soup looks terrific, I have some parsnips left over and this would be an amazing way to incorporate them!
You should try it. And I know what you mean about December – I still haven’t caught up from last month and this month’s going at a breakneck pace!
Both your dishes look delicious Teresa. I like the idea of roasting the parsnips first to take away some of their edge and your little potatoes look beautifully crisp, perfect for dipping.
Thanks so much, Zosia!