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Autumn Dairy-Free Healthy Eating Recipes Seasons Special Diets Vegan

Root Vegetable Mash

frugal living, healthy meals, vegan, dairy free

Potatoes are and always will rank amongst my favourite vegetables. The humble spud is flavoursome, versatile and about as frugal as it is possible to be. However, in some ways sweet potatoes are superior to traditional tatties. Indeed, one of their most endearing qualities, if a vegetable can be endearing, is that their texture is naturally more buttery and pleasant than that of one’s average tater, whatever the variety. The benefit of this is that sweet potatoes mash incredibly well, without the need of a plethora of dairy products. Even without butter or milk, this mash manages to delicately caress one’s tongue – to me it seems like pure madness that some similar recipes insist on incorporating double cream! Then again, this is a place for the frugal, so that would have to be my reaction!

Of course, the fact that this mash is best eaten vegan isn’t the only benefit to be had when choosing this recipe over its more traditional rival – since it naturally possesses a great deal of flavour, it has little need for additional extras. As a result, it can be served on its own as a starter or main – a particularly frugal characteristic.

frugal living, healthy meals, root vegetables, vegan, thanksgiving

As you can see, the once dreaded parsnip has again made its presence felt. Though their unadulterated flavour has a lot to answer for, they do possess a certain nutty sweetness required by many an autumnal dish. There’s every chance that I’ll one day be won round to the unassuming ‘snip, but for now they must remain partially veiled behind curtains of largely orange fare. Besides, there are many ingredients I’m not overly fond of, ingredients which often add a unique dimension to the dish in which they have been used. Moreover, it just so happens that those unloved vegetables are often the most frugal – who knows what will be next, the turnip perhaps?

Root Vegetable Mash

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 1 very large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

• 3 large carrots, peeled and roughly diced

• 2 parsnips, peeled and roughly diced

• 1 red chilli, finely chopped

• A small handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

• 1 clove of garlic, mashed

• 3-4 tbsp olive oil

• Seasoning to taste

Method:

1. Pop the vegetables in an oven dish, drizzle with olive oil and bake until soft (20-30 minutes).

vegan, root vegetables

2. Put the cooked vegetables into a large mixing bowl and mash, leave some lumps. Mix in the chilli, garlic and parsley, stir in a little olive oil if the mash is stiff and season to taste. Serve as an accompaniment to a meal, or alone.

frugal living, healthy meals, vegan, thanksgiving, thrifty

carrot, parsnip, sweet potato, mash, vegan, frugal living, thrifty, autumn, thanksgiving

Cost: Like I always say, vegan food is extremely frugal and this mash succeeds in continuing to prove that rule. This healthy meal should set one back no more than a rather economical 90p – an enticing prospect, I think you’ll all agree. Oh and it’s perfect for thanksgiving!

163 replies on “Root Vegetable Mash”

I love the addition of the chili. Not sure how many American would take up your wonderfully savory sweet potato mash over the vile dish so often served at Thanksgiving that involoves sugar and marshmallows. I will definitely be giving this version of mash a go as I especially like the roast aspect of this.

LOL- you are right! The marshmallowly-sugared sweet potato is overdone here in the states! I for one LOVE savory, and usually make my sweet potatoes with fresh ginger and fresh orange juice 🙂 That said, Frugal, you once again have made my stomach growl. The mash is lovely!!

Since I am in midst of Thanksgiving prep and have all these vegetables – it is really tempting to make one big mash! Please do work on turnips – they are not so endearing to me, though they are enduring in the fridge. Your posts are delightful, as well as useful. thanks, Katy

Nice! I love how colorful this is compared to mashed potatoes (which I find boring…). Adding chili sounds perfect, too. And I see you’re back at using parsnips again! You have to admit, they have a nice texture… 🙂

I am sure that my Scottish grandad would have approved…this looks a lot like his hearty mashed neeps n carrots recipe. I have noticed that we are now able to get all sorts of coloured sweet potatoes…I think someone further up north is growing them experimentally and I got some white skinned white fleshed varieties the other day. If they are growing so well here in Tasmania, I might do the old stick them over a glass of water trick and see if they don’t salute! Wish me luck…I am going in! 🙂

Brave indeed! To grow the sweet potatoes I have to get past the troll (dog) that lays in front of the pantry for which sweet potatoes are the greatest delicacy known to said troll and who feels the need to shred sweet potatoes all over the floor without actually injesting a single bite. Mangled and maimed might be the case but I WILL have sweet potatoes! 🙂

Earl is “he who can’t be left at home because he exercises his teeth on the furniture” our youngest American Staffordshire terrier dog. He has the shape of a termite/Tasmanian devil and is 35kg of pure muscular chewing power. He is incredibly sweet natured but that only runs to humans and other dogs and furniture is exempt from his sphere of loving calm…furniture…and grafted plants…and anything plastic…and anything wooden…and Christmas trees …and …you get the picture…

This is *exactly* my kind of Mash! Plain ol’ mashed potatoes are good, but I adore sweet potatoes. Also, I cannot stand sweet potato dishes that are loaded (I mean, just brimming) with butter, cream, sugar, etc. Then, as if that isn’t enough, people top it with marshmallow… *sigh* I will never understand it.

At our Thanksgiving table my mom would always make mashed rutabagas (or yellow turnips) – they’re kind of like the sweet potato of the turnip family. You might like them!

Potatoes for President!! I love that it is chunky and not completely mashed. And a confession: I tried parsnip and turnip for the first time a week ago.. Always the last to know things..

Normally I totally agree with you that plenty of things can be done frugally and done well – e.g. I happily munch on some savoury semolina/masa harina topped with some stirfried mushrooms or greens and a sprinkle of parmigiano and some black pepper and don’t feel I am missing out on the ‘real’ Polenta experience and all the butter that it comes with … but mash without butter, hmmm. Admittedly, at home I often leave out the butter (precious baking ingredient) and the cream (the remainder of which will only go off in my house unless I remember to make some truffles) … but the other day when I went for dinner in a little French bistro I had the creamiest and fluffiest potato mash sitting underneath a grilled duck breast and while you could taste the half pound of butter that must have been sitting on my plate, the mash was unbelievably delicious, so creamy, so smooth and simply heavenly! Not sure I can go back to mash without butter … although maybe your suggestion of roasting the veg with some olive oil will help!

Love the light in the pictures – that light reflector ‘thing’ you bought must be doing its trick (or you have insanely nice light in your new place!).

I love that you added chilli to this dish. I remember many a holiday meal with some sort of mashed orange vegetable on the side… a boring but totally comforting side dish. The chilli definitely adds some excitment.

As a vegan, I thank you for this recipe and your timing is impeccable with Thanksgiving right around the corner…

As an American, who resides in Boston, what I absolutely cannot wrap my brain around, is the need for adding marshmallows to sweet potato mash!!!! What is that? In fact, the other day while at Whole Foods, I noticed they had packages of marshmallows next to the sweet potatoes!

We Americans are a bit of a puzzle, eh?

😉

That’s funny — I just made a soup version of almost exactly this. And I will continue to campaign for the awesomeness of the parsnip. It’s pretty much the only vegetable that’s local this time of year.

Of course vegetables can be endearing. Okra has a special place in my heart, despite it’s unfortunate habit of excreting a slimy substance. Don’t know why but parsnips are not my thing, would you recommend something else that can be substituted?

Sometimes potato mash on its own can feel a bit heavy, it’s really great when you mix in other vegetables. I find mashing potato with pumpkin gives a really nice, almost silky, texture. Will need to try your root veg mash at some stage.

This beautiful mash qualifies as a main dish to me! Looks like you raided Mr. McGregor’s garden. 🙂 By the way, I roasted turnips with potatoes and carrots over the weekend and they added a delicious zing to the medley. Do not be afraid…

Many thanks for the ‘Like’ on my blog. I just love the look of your Root Veggie Mash. I have to make it. Hubby hates sweet potato and parsnip so I guess he’ll miss out! 🙂

I’m going to try this for chirstmas. I’m going to make it like hmm an experiment..don’t tell what it is and see what ppl say LOL (yes I’m that kind of person )…but it looks so yummy !

This sounds and looks amazing. I will be trying this soon. Unlike most people here in the south, I can’t stand the traditional sweet potato/marshmellow dish that is typically served during the holidays. We also prefer sweet potatoes over regular potatoes throughout the year, so I’m always looking for new ideas.

This looks great! Will be trying it very soon..and I will strategically suggest it to a few parents I know for their young children…much better than the fast food they are currently feeding them!

Yes…I actually know two families who happily take their baby to McDonalds..It’s unfortunate that some people feel that going to McDonalds is a part of childhood. They say ‘it won’t kill them’, but what they don’t realise is that in decades to come the ingredients used in food like McDonalds like hydrogenated oils and GMO ingredients will cause disease and premature death 🙁

I did go to McDonald’s as a child and still do (rarely), but I agree it shouldn’t be integral to a childhood and will not be taking any children I have there at all often. Everything will be home cooked and relatively healthy 😀

[…] Celeriac, though the ugliest duckling in the brood of ugly ducklings that is root vegetables, has one characteristic that pardons it entirely from its optic misdemeanours – its distinctive flavour. With a peppery quality similar to that of stem celery it’ll come as no surprise that celeriac is actually a variety of celery, cultivated across several continents for its enlarged hypocotyl (no prizes for guessing which bit that is). As with most root vegetables, celeriac can be prepared in any number of ways, though it is most commonly found in soup as a result of its powerful flavour and pleasing texture. It you’d like to try it in another form, you could try adding it to my root vegetable mash. […]

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