Coconut Lime Parsnip Bisque with Cilantro Drizzle

Dan    Recipes, Soups, Vegan     Asian-inspired, autumn, coconut, parsnips, recipes, root vegetables, soups, vegan, vegetarian

What you’ll need…

Soup:

2 yellow onions (chopped)

3 cloves garlic

2 TSP white sugar

1/4 cup pineapple juice

5 parsnips (peeled, 1″ chopped, approximately 3 cups)

1 13.5oz can coconut milk

1 lemon grass stalk (segmented)

1 3″ ginger root (halved)

2 cups chicken stock (or veggie to keep vegan)

1 TBSP white wine vinegar

1 lime (zest and juice)

salt and pepper

olive oil

Drizzle:

1 bunch cilantro (loosely chopped)

1 lemon (zest and juice)

1/2 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

As far as root vegetables go, parsnips are overlooked, underused and, let’s not beat around the bush here, forgotten. Well…similar Occupy Calgary protesters, I decided to let parsnips occupy my kitchen this week. However, instead of pitching tents, making signs and refusing to leave Olympic Plaza, err….my house…They decided to jump into a soup pot! Now, that was an easy fix!

Jokes aside, this soup puts parsnips in the much-deserved limelight. Next time you’re at the grocery store, I want you to look carrots in the eye and say: ‘Sorry carrots, I’m with parsnips now.’ Love hurts.

Place the chopped onions and garlic into a medium-sized pot. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle in the sugar, stir and let cook on medium-high heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Now, pour in the pineapple juice and let the mixture continue to cook until the liquid has reduced by half, about another 5 minutes. Toss in (recklessly) the parsnips, stir and let cook for (you guessed it!) another five minutes.

Next, add the chicken stock, coconut milk, lemon grass, ginger, vinegar and lime to the pot. Reduce to medium heat and let simmer for 25 minutes. Be sure to leave the lemon grass and ginger in large chunks, as you will need to pull them out prior to pureeing the soup!

In the simmering interim, we can quickly make the ‘drizzle’ (doesn’t that sound so fancy?). Place ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. This is more for looks and also a bit of tang for the soup, but add some salt and pepper to taste, just to round things out. Pour the vibrant green liquid into a small bowl and set aside for now.

Once the soup has simmered for the appropriate length of time, remove the chunks of ginger and the lemon grass stalks. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until it has a velvety smooth texture. Barring the immersion blender, pour the soup into a blender or food processor to get the job done. Return the smooth soup to the pot, have a taste, salt and pepper it as needed, then let it sit on low heat until you’re ready to serve.

When it’s time to dish it out, ladle out the soup and top with some of the cilantro drizzle. I feel as though some simple seared scalloped would go well with this soup, so maybe give that a whirl if you’re feeling ambitious.

Serves 4-5

Total cook time…45 min

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