Balsamic Root Vegetables in the Crockpot

This past week  I decided to try a new recipe for Thanksgiving. We strive to always include a big portion of vegetables as part of our dinner meal. And since lunches are usually leftovers from the night before, we are most likely still eating veggies, except for the green salad which always gets finished during dinner meal.   This recipe includes root vegetables simply prepared by chopping, a mixture of sweetened vinaigrette poured over the vegetables and allowing the crockpot to do the cooking. I adapted this recipe which was found in the November 2010 issue of Southern Living.

Ingredients

2 good sized sweet potatoes

1 good size parsnip

4-6 medium carrots

2 large red onions, coarsely chopped

1 good handful sweetened dried cranberries

1 Tbs honey

3 Tbs olive oil

3 Tbs balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Directions

• Wash, sweet potatoes, parsnips and carrots, I only peeled the sweet potatoes. I cut the vegetables  into strips of 3-4 inches by about 3/4 wide. Combine parsnips, carrot, onions, and cranberries in a lightly greased 6 quart slow cooker; layer sweet potatoes over top.

• Mix together the honey, oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl. Once mixed, you can pour the mixture over the vegetables but do not stir.

• Cover and cook on HIGH in your crockpot for 4-5 hours or until vegetables are tender. Toss with parsley if desired right before serving. If you eat bacon it says you can sprinkle with it.

• Over all this was a nice tasting dish. Like I said, we enjoy vegetables. The carrots were still a tiny crunchy which made for a variety of different vegetables and a variety of different cooking levels. If you like root vegetables and would love try them all together in one dish, I would encourage you try this dish.

Yields: 6 to 8 servings

This recipe is shared with:
Tuesday Twister at GNOWFLINS
Slightly Indulgent at Sugar Free and Gluten Free 
Penny Wise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet

How do you prepare root vegetables?  I'd love for you to share your recipes.