Parsnip fritters is a healthful version of the hash brown - but just as delicious and satisfying. In making these fritters, you can add corn kernels to give more texture and flavor. You can also substitute parsnip using zucchini or sweet potato.
Kids can munch parsnip fritters at any meal of the day but I particularly recommend them with an egg for breakfast.
Food Uses of Parsnip
The parsnip is usually cooked but can also be eaten raw. Parsnips resemble carrots and can be used in similar ways but they have a sweeter taste, especially when cooked. They can be baked, boiled, pureed, roasted, fried or steamed. When used in stews, soups, casseroles and hotpots they give a rich flavor. In some cases, the parsnip is boiled and the solid portions are removed from the soup or stew, leaving behind a more subtle flavor than the whole root, and starch to thicken the dish. Parsnips can also be fried or thinly sliced and made into crisps.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the root of Chinese parsnip is used as an herbal medicine ingredient.
Parsnips can be made into a wine that has a taste similar to Madeira. Madeira is a fortified Portuguese wine made in the Madeira Islands. Madeira is produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry wines that can be consumed on their own as an aperitif, to sweet wines more usually consumed with dessert.
Health Benefits Eating of Parsnips
Parsnip contains more sugar than carrots, radish, and turnips. It has calories (100 g provide 75 calories) comparable to that of some fruits like banana, and grapes. Nonetheless, its sweet, juicy root is rich in several health-benefiting phyto-nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
The consumption of parsnips has potential health benefits. They contain poly-acetylene anti-oxidants such as falcarinol, falcarindiol, panaxydiol and methyl-falcarindiol, which have anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties. The dietary fiber in parsnips is partly of the soluble and partly the insoluble type and comprises cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The high fiber content of parsnips may help prevent constipation and reduce blood cholesterol levels.
Parsnip is an excellent source of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. One-hundred grams provides 4.9 mg or 13% of fiber. Adequate fiber in the diet helps reduce blood cholesterol levels, obesity and constipation conditions.
New research studies from scientists at University of Newcastle at Tyne found that these compounds possess anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and anti-cancer function and offer protection from colon cancer and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Fresh parsnip roots are rich in many B-complex groups of vitamins such as folic acid, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin, and pantothenic acid as well as vitamin K and vitamin E.
Fresh roots are also good in vitamin-C; provide about 17 mg or 28% of RDA. Vitamin-C is a powerful water-soluble anti-oxidant, easily available to us from natural sources. It helps the human body maintain healthy connective tissue, teeth, and gum. Its anti-oxidant property helps protect from diseases and cancers by scavenging harmful free radicals from the body.
Parsnips also have healthy levels of minerals like iron, calcium, copper, potassium, manganese and phosphorus. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure by countering effects of sodium.
Parsnip Fritters Recipe
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Makes 6 fritters
INGREDIENTS:
1 parsnip, peeled and grated into sticks using a mandoline or grater
2 tbsp coconut flour
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp ground cumin
A pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
COOKING PROCEDURE:
1) For the fritters: mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until combined, then using your hands or a spoon, divide the mixture into 6 portions.
2) Mould each portion together roughly.
3) Heat the coconut oil and fry the fritters for about 2 minutes on each side until crisp and golden brown. If you are making larger batches, you can also bake in the oven preheated to 160°C/325°F/Gas mark 3 on a baking tray, covered in greaseproof paper.
4) Serve.
How to Store and Select Parsnips
Although available year-round in most markets, prime season for parsnips is fall and winter.
1) Store unwashed parsnips in a cool dark place. Wrapped in a paper towel and placed in a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator set between 0°C and 5°C. Parsnips should last up to 2 weeks, if not longer.
2) Do not place raw parsnips in the freezer compartment.
3) To prepare, wash them in cold water and scrub or gently peel the skin. Trim off its ends. Cut into cubes, disc, and pieces as you desire.
4) To freeze, cut parsnips into 1/2-inch cubes and par-boil or steam for 3 to 5 minutes. Cool, pack into containers, seal, and freeze for 8 to 10 months. Fully cooked parsnip puree may also be frozen for up to 10 months.
5) Tender parsnips can be cooked in a similar way like carrots. Do not overcook; indeed, they cook quickly as they contain more sugar than starch.
6) In the markets select fresh, firm, fleshy, medium size, even surfaced parsnips. Avoid long, thin, and tail like roots, as they are stringy and less sought-after in cooking.
7) Do not buy soft, shriveled, pitted, knobby, or damaged roots.
8) Avoid, woody, over-mature ones, as they are off-flavored.
Parsnip Nutritional Information
It is high in vitamins and minerals, especially potassium. It also contains antioxidants and both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber.
A typical 100 g parsnip contains 75 Calories (230 kJ) of energy. Most parsnip cultivars consist of about 80% water, 5% sugar, 1% protein, 0.3% fat and 5% dietary fiber. The parsnip is rich in vitamins and minerals and is particularly rich in potassium with 375 mg per 100 g. Several of the B-group vitamins are present but most of the vitamin C is lost in cooking. Since most of the vitamins and minerals are found close to the skin, many will be lost unless the root is finely peeled or cooked whole. During frosty weather, part of the starch is converted to sugar and the root tastes sweeter.
Principle | Nutrient Value | Percentage of RDA |
Energy | 75 Kcal | 4% |
Carbohydrates | 17.99 g | 14% |
Protein | 1.20 g | 2% |
Total Fat | 0.30 g | 1% |
Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0% |
Dietary Fiber | 4.9 g | 13% |
Vitamins | ||
Folates | 67 µg | 17% |
Niacin | 0.700 mg | 4% |
Pantothenic acid | 0.600 mg | 12% |
Pyridoxine | 0.90 mg | 7% |
Riboflavin | 0.050 mg | 4% |
Thiamin | 0.090 mg | 7.5% |
Vitamin A | 0 IU | 0% |
Vitamin C | 17 mg | 29% |
Vitamin K | 22.5 µg | 19% |
Electrolytes | ||
Sodium | 10 mg | <1% |
Potassium | 375 mg | 8% |
Minerals | ||
Calcium | 36 mg | 3.5% |
Copper | 0.120 mg | 13% |
Iron | 0.59 mg | 7.5% |
Magnesium | 29 mg | 7% |
Manganese | 0.560 mg | 24% |
Phosphorus | 71 mg | 10% |
Selenium | 1.8 µg | 3% |
Zinc | 0.59 mg | 5% |
Phyto-nutrients | ||
Carotene-a | 0 µg | -- |
Carotene-ß | 0 µg | -- |
Crypto-xanthin-ß | 0 µg | -- |
Lutein-zeaxanthin | 0 µg | -- |
(Source: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference)
My reference for this tasty and healthful recipe is this book:
Freer, Amelia. 2015. Eat. Nourish. Glow.: 10 easy steps for losing weight, looking younger & feeling healthier. Harper Thorsons. ISBN-10: 000757990X
About the Author
Nutritional therapist and healthy eating expert Amelia Freer has helped her many celebrity clients, including James Corden and Sam Smith, to dispatch fad diets to the distant past whilst guiding them to a rejuvenated future. Now she can do the same for you. Her ideas are all backed up by the latest findings in the field of nutrition and neuroscience.
Amelia Freer brings a fresh and unique voice to the field of holistic health. In this, her first book, she explains her 10 steps and provides over 25 enticing recipes to get you started on your path to optimum wellness.
Amelia includes a mouth-watering selection of recipes, from delightful breakfast alternatives, such as Almond, Apricot and Rose Yogurt, light lunch ideas such as Crunchy Crab Salad and delicious mains such as Monkfish with a Broccoli and Ginger Mash. Wow your friends with the fiendish yet healthy sweet alternatives such as the Salted Caramels.
Other References:
Coleman Eliot. 1999. Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long, second Edition. Chelsea Green Publishing. ISBN-10: 1890132276
Laws, Bill. 2004. Spade, Skirret and Parsnip: The Curious History of Vegetables. The History Press. ISBN-10: 0750932589
United States Department of Agriculture. National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. http://ndb.nal.usda.gov
Watson, Lee. 2015. Peace and Parsnips: Vegan Cooking for Everyone. Michael Joseph. ASIN: B00TP8L9SA
Watch related videos on how to make vegetable fritters: Philly Veggie Fritter
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