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Veggies given fair shake by carnivore chef

What's a nice vegetarian girl doing pouring over "Girl in the Kitchen," the cookbook by "Top Chef" winner and Chicago superstar chef Stephanie Izard?

Izard, the chef/owner of Girl & The Goat and Little Goat, is a carnivore extraordinaire, known for dishes like Wood Oven Roasted Pig Face and Goat Empanadas.

And, yet, at her restaurants and in her cookbook, you'll find some of the best vegetable creations you have ever tasted. (I read a blog post about a fan who travels from New York just to eat her green beans!) On a recent visit to Girl & The Goat, I was in veggie heaven with a Chickpea Fritter, Sweet Potato Bleu Cheese Pierogies and a Kohlrabi Salad.

Her cookbook is also filled with noncarnivorous choices. Case in point: Her recipe for Pear, Pistachio and Parsnip Soup. What an oddly brilliant combination. You get a hint of sweetness from the pears, a little tartness from the wine, a bit of heat from the chiles and a nice salty finish from the pistachios.

If you haven't cooked with parsnips before, they are a root vegetable that's closely related to carrots - in other words, they are sweet tasting and need to be peeled.

Best of all, the recipe is one of those that presents as fancy, and yet is super easy. You simply cook the vegetables and other ingredients until the parsnips and pears are tender and then puree. Garnish with pistachios and you're good to go. This is the perfect starter for an upcoming holiday meal, even more so because you can make it a day or two ahead and reheat it. It's unpretentious, yet elegant.

My only caution is to remember the soup really doesn't need much salt - the pistachios take care of that for you.

• M. Eileen Brown is the Daily Herald's director of strategic marketing and innovation and an incurable soup-a-holic. She specializes in vegetarian soups and blogs at soupalooza.com.

Pear, Pistachio and Parsnip Soup

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