Without a doubt, food makes me happy. People who know me well know that I don't need much to feel their love. The past 6 weeks I have been working double jobs, both at my bakery and a friend's tapas bar in the evening. Due to unforeseen and very sad family reasons, she had to go back to Belgium.

Stressed about having to close her business and lose her staff by closing for a few weeks, my hubby and I volunteered to come and help her out, free of charge. The costs of flying to Belgium and Spain, taking care of her dying bother and paying bills and staff were already big enough. That's what good friends are for, right? I am sure she would have done the same for us.

Anyhow, since we didn't want to accept a single penny from here, when she came back she brought us a shitload of foods, unfindable in Cambodia, to say a big thank you and invited us to join her to a small island for the day and the night to have some quality time once she is settled in again. Best gift ever, right?

One of the things she brought, among many other goodies, were a few parsnips. Nom Nom Nom.

PARSNIP, CARROT, POTATO, CHERRY TOMATO GRATIN WITH AVOCADO CASHEW CHEESE 🥑🍅🥔

INGREDIENTS (SERVES 3-4)

For the avocado, cashew cheese sauce

1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 1 hour (the longer the better)
1 small avocado
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3-4 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 small lime, juice only
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3/4-1 cup water
Salt and black pepper to taste

For the gratin

2 carrot, chopped in thin circles
2 parsnip, chopped in thin circles
2 small potatoes, chopped in thin circles
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 200C or 400F.

Add parsnip slices to a baking sheet drizzle with olive oil, dried thyme, salt, and black pepper. Roast until slightly browned.

Meanwhile, saute the onions for the cashew sauce until softened, then add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the onion mix together with all other cashew sauce ingredients to a blender and process until smooth, cheesy texture. Set aside.

Add cooking oil to an oven-safe dish and layer the cherry tomatoes on the bottom of the pan. Season with back pepper and salt. Then add one layer of potatoes followed by half of the cashew sauce, parsnip seasoned with extra black pepper, carrots and the rest of the potatoes. Finish with the remaining cashew cheese sauce.