Honey days chasing those clouds away

I used to hate honey, when I was younger I would refuse to come in the kitchen when my mother baked with it. I was an odd child. Odd and stupid it seems, for honey is one of natures wonders. Naturally sweet with no processing required, it can always be found locally and (extra-wonderfully in my opinion) can be used to sweeten both sweet and savory dishes!

This recipe invokes images of long sunday lunch with friends and family and works particularly well on a day when you have no energetic plans post-dinner... I have called it a side dish but in truth I'd be happy eating a whole plate of these alone.

Honey Roast Parsnips & Sesame Seeds

Ingredients:

1/2 kg parnsips,
2 tbsp of runny honey
2 tbsp of oil (I like rapeseed oil in this but olive oil works equally well)
2 tbsp of sesame seeds

• Preheat your oven to about 220°C (quite hot!)
  
• Chop the parsnips in half and then lengthways into wedgelike fingers. You will probably get around 10 wedges per parsnip, some like to remove the "woody" core. I never bother.
• Boil in some salted water for about 4 minutes, drain and then place them in a roasting tray.
• Drizzle with the honey and then skoosh them about a bit until they are fully coated.
• Roast for about 15-20 minutes (watch they dont burn or stick to the bottom of the tray!)
• Dry fry the sesame seeds until they begin to change colour (to a slightly golden colour not to black... then they have burnt).
• Sprinkle the cooked (and now very sticky) parsnips with sesame seeds
• Eat copious amounts as soon as possible.