AIP roasted parsnip and carrot mash with coconut milk - stovetop and oven, creamy potato-free side

If there is a table this year with real mashed potatoes on it and you are eating something else, that gap is a real one, not a small thing to wave off. This mash earns its place on the table on its own terms. Carrots and parsnips roast until their sugars concentrate, get blended with a whole head of soft roasted garlic and coconut milk, and come out smooth enough to sit next to anything else there.

Parsnips are unusually high in fiber for a root vegetable, more than the carrots sitting right next to them in the pan. A whole head of garlic goes in roasted and soft, for the kind of gentle support garlic has been used for long before anyone called it a supplement. Roasting concentrates the natural sugars instead of adding any, so what tastes rich here is mostly just patience.

These are root vegetables pulled from real soil, dressed up with nothing but oil, salt, and time in the oven. Spoon it into the good bowl, drizzle a little oil over the top, and let this be the dish on your plate that you do not apologize for.

Ingredients

• 4 medium carrots, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 4 medium-large parsnips, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tsp, divided
• 1 tsp fresh or dried thyme
• 1 full head garlic
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 to 1.5 cups full-fat coconut milk or water

Method

Heat the oven to 400 F.

Spread the chopped carrots and parsnips on a baking tray. Toss with the 1/4 cup olive oil, the thyme, and the sea salt. Slice the very top off the whole head of garlic to expose the cloves, drizzle the cut face with the remaining 1 tsp olive oil, and wrap it loosely in parchment or foil. Set it on the tray with the vegetables.

Roast until the carrots and parsnips are completely tender and beginning to caramelize at the edges, around 30 to 40 minutes, stirring once partway. The garlic should be soft and golden when squeezed from its skin.

Transfer the roasted vegetables to a blender or food processor. Squeeze the soft roasted garlic cloves out of their papery skins and add them. Pour in about 1 cup of the coconut milk and blend until smooth, adding more coconut milk a little at a time until you reach the texture you want. For a rustic mash, use a potato masher instead and leave it with more body. Taste and adjust the salt.

Serve warm, with a drizzle of olive oil on top if you like.

Stovetop variation

If you would rather not run the oven, peel and chop the carrots and parsnips, peel the whole garlic head into cloves, and boil or steam everything together until fork-tender, around 15 to 20 minutes. Drain well, then blend or mash with the coconut milk, thyme, and salt as above. You lose the roasted caramelized sweetness, and you gain speed and a lighter, cleaner flavor.

*Adapted from heal-me-delicious*