One of my favourite sounds is the “click” a carrot makes when you pull it out of the earth. It’s one of my favourite jobs to do on the farm. I also love the zingy fresh aroma you get when picking herbs like basil and mint. The beauty of growing plants is that all of us can be farmers, albeit urban ones, growing our own green babies in small backyard plots or pots.

Yet despite our connection to veggies, we don’t give them that much credit. They’re generally seen as a “savoury” accompaniment or garnish to the much mightier meat. But the tide has turned. This is largely due to our growing awareness of the huge environmental footprint of farming meat and an increasing number of influential chefs like Rene Redzepi (Noma) and Dan Barber (Blue Hill Farm) taking vegetables from side dish to star, and using them in novel ways. And why not? The same amount of love, care, time, money and nurturing goes into farming both plants and animals.

In fact, two of Darren and my most memorable meals in the last couple of years have involved humble vegetables as the protagonist. We ticked world number one restaurant (at the time) Noma in Copenhagen off our list this year and, despite consuming 20-something truly exquisite courses, we actually felt good afterwards, mainly due to the fact that virtually the entire meal was vegetable based. Meanwhile, my favourite dessert to date was at Dan Hunter’s Brae in regional Victoria: deep-fried parsnip crisp on top of parsnip cream with honey and dehydrated apple. Who would have thought that the bland old parsnip, forever relegated as a filler in winter soups, could be the star of this crunchy, creamy cone of heaven?

The first time I ever tried a vegetable in a dessert was about ten years ago at Tetsuya’s in Sydney. Beetroot sorbet. I remember thinking it was one of the most exciting, novel and delicious things I’d eaten. Funnily enough, it turns out that Darren was the head chef there at the time, but we didn’t meet until years later!

On that note, I’d like to share a cracking vegetable dessert from Darren featuring, you guessed it, the good old parsnip! Parsnip is aaaaamazing in cake…its earthy, nutty flavour perfectly complements the sweetness of brown sugar (or maple syrup) and the crunch of nuts. Trust me, once you try this, you’ll start rooting for parsnip, too.

(Editor’s note: we also love these carrot and white chocolate pie and milk chocolate beetroot cake recipes.) 

Darren’s Parsnip Cake

Vegetables shouldn’t just be used to accompany the main course; they’re fantastic in sweets too. Candied beetroots with chocolate brownies, fennel ice cream and parsnip cake all great little treats. This is really a play on carrot cake just a little spicier. Serve with a dollop of mascarpone and a pot of tea.

Serves 8

280g parsnips, peeled, grated

1 cup (100g) walnuts roughly chopped

150g slivered almonds, roasted

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cumin

200g dark chocolate, chopped

2 eggs

200g brown sugar

1 tsp sea salt

1 2/3 cups (250g) plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

200ml sunflower oil

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 24cm x 12cm rectangular cake pan with baking paper. Whisk the oil, eggs, sugar and orange zest in a bowl. Sift over the flour, spices and baking powder, and stir well to combine. Fold in the chocolate, parsnip and nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.