Crock Pot Recipe - Balsamic Root Vegetables

Ready to dish up and serve

You might think of root vegetables as cold weather fare.  But by using the crock pot to prepare this dish, your kitchen can stay cool in the warmest weather.  This dish takes 5 hours to cook on the high setting and the house will smell wonderful as it's cooking!

Balsamic Root Vegetables

1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 lb. parsnips, peeled and chunked
         (half of a plastic-wrapped package)
1/2 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into chunks, then halved
1/2 large red onions, sliced
3/4 C sweetened dried cranberries (Craisins) or figs
1 tbsp. light brown sugar
3 tbsp. olive or canola oil
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp. chopped flat leaf parsley (I did not use this ingredient)

Lightly grease the crock pot.  Layer the veggies in the crock pot in the following order:  carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, onions.  Sprinkle dried cranberries over each layer.  Whisk together brown sugar, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Pour over the vegetables.  DO NOT STIR.  Cook on high for 4-5 hours.  Toss vegetables with chopped parsley before stirring.  Serves 4.

I originally copied this recipe out of an old issue of Southern Living magazine while I was waiting for an appointment.  I have made a few adjustments to their recipe based on my experience.  Carrots need the most cooking time, so they go on the bottom.  Sweet potatoes take the shortest time to cook, so they go on top.  I used figs instead of cranberries, as I was unexpectedly out of cranberries!

Veggies in crock pot, ready to cook