GROWING up back home in Dublin my mum was mostly in charge of the cooking.
But my dad had a few tricks in his repertoire that he’d roll out when on dinner duty. Like mashed spuds, with the fluffiest flouriest potatoes he could find, “balls of flour” he called them.
Complete with little golden pools of butter melting on top. Another favourite was his carrot, parsnip and onion mash.
He’d ceremoniously dish it up - giant spoonfuls of it towering on the plate.
To this day when I’m home at Christmas eating it takes me back to being 10 years old, sitting at the dinner table with him.
For New Year’s Eve I like to cook simple dishes that taste beautiful, look stunning and will keep most people happy.
I love this roast carrots, parsnips and red onions side dish, a nod towards my dad’s cooking. Add a little caraway, thyme and finish with a tahini dressing.
This dish works well served straight from the oven and also at room temperature.
It can be prepared a couple of hours in advance, leaving you plenty of time to get everything else ready and relax before dinner.
Laoise Casey's roast carrots, parsnips and red onions with caraway and a tahini dressing
Ingredients (serves 4 as a side dish)
600g carrots (mixed colours)
200g parsnips
4 red onions
1 bulb garlic
4 tbsp. olive oil
3 tsp. honey
2 tsp. caraway seeds
4 sprigs thyme
Sea salt, cracked black pepper
For the tahini dressing
4 tbsp. Greek yogurt
1 tbsp. Tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
Preheat oven to 180C. Peel the carrots and parsnips and top and tail them. Slice into batons.
Peel the onions and slice them horizontally into rounds. You should get 3 round slices from each onion.
Slice the garlic in half horizontally.
In a bowl mix together the olive oil and honey with a spoon.
Place the carrots and parsnips in a large baking tray with the garlic (if you think they are too crowded use two baking trays).
Drizzle the olive oil and honey and caraway seeds on top. Add the thyme and season generously with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
Roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Add the red onion for the last 10 minutes of cooking.
Make the tahini dressing by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and whisking gently together. Season the dressing to taste.
If it is too thick stir in a couple of drops of water.
Drizzle on the roasted vegetables just before serving. You could also add some toasted sesame seeds and fresh mint.
Laoise Casey is a chef at The Dairy and The Delicatessen in Clapham and writes regular columns for the Independent and Evening Standard about one of her favourite subjects - lunch. In her former life she used to be a HR Manager in Ireland. Three years ago she moved to London to follow her dream to become a chef and writer and hasn’t looked back since, except on the days she burns toast. She is also the author of cuisinegenie.ie. Follow her on Twitter @cuisine_genie and Instagram @laoisecooks.
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