So Mabon is just around the corner. For those of you who are new to all of this I’m going to give you a run down of what this holiday is all about.
Mabon can easily be seen as a thanksgiving stand-in if you only celebrate Pagan holidays (which means those of you not participating in Pagan holidays could easily add this to your Thanksgiving feast instead!) We are to be grateful for the harvest (whether an actual garden or summer projects) and we share in those accomplishments with our community and family. If we look to our ancestors and where this holiday comes from it's about giving you the strength to ready yourself for the coming winter months.
If you follow me on Instagram you’ll see that I paired this with
mini-meatloaf and sauteed beet greens but for Mabon I would suggest a
corn roast! I would regularly tell you to have a potluck in the backyard
but with the way the world is right now that's not possible or safe for
most of us. So instead gather up the people in your home, or your
bubble if that’s what you’ve got going on, and have a smaller version.
Everyone can still take part in the creation of the meal if you want to
have that community aspect. One person cutting fruit, another at the
grill, one more tossing a salad… you get the picture.
Just a quick word, I forgot to pick up parsnips when I did my grocery shopping ARGH! So I used potatoes instead to keep with the aesthetic side of cooking (which I enjoy as much as any other part)
Without further adieu…
ROOT VEGGIE SALAD
w/ horseradish vinaigrette
Ingredients:
2 medium sized beets
2 parsnips
2 carrots
Cooking oil
A dash ea. Salt and pepper
⅓ cup vinegar (I used white but apple cider or rice wold work)
⅓ cup oil (EVOO is my preference but any high quality, light tasting oil will work)
1 tbsp prepared horseradish
1 tbsp dijon mustard
½ tbsp dried sage
1 tsp dried basil
1tsp dried oregano
*pro tip* you could also use fresh varieties of herbs to add a little more colour to your dressing andI think fresh is always a good idea if its an option for you...
** witchy tip** especially for Sabbats.
First, the veggies. You’ll want to get these roasted early in the day or even the day before because you’ll need them to be cool by the time you’re serving them. You can go about roasting them any way you feel comfortable (I find beets to be a huge pain in the rear which is why I went the way I did) more specifically if you want to roast them whole and cut when they are cooled or chop them up and then roast them. The second option means they will cook and cool faster but I find peeling and chopping beets to be easier (and safer) after they're cooked.
So, I peeled my carrots and “parsnips” and chopped the beard and stem from my beets then threw them all in a bowl and tossed them with a little bit of canola and salt and pepper. I wrapped them individually in aluminum foil, placed them on a cookie sheet and roasted them in an oven heated to 425. The timing will be different spending on the size of your veggies so check them for doneness at 40 minutes. Your carrots and parsnips should be good to go and if you have smaller beets they may be as well. I find some beets take upwards of an hour. As long as you can easily prick them with a fork you are golden.
If you decided to chop your veggies before cooking, follow similar steps: chop and toss with oil and salt and pepper, place on a lined cookie sheet and roast at 350, checking them for doneness at 30 minutes. Again, as long as you can easily prick them with a fork you are golden.
Once soft, allow your veggies to cool. If you haven't peeled your beets now is the fun part! The skins should slip right off with your hands! If not, or you don't want to risk having red hands for the day, simply use a peeler but it should be much easier now.
For aesthetic reasons I dressed my beets and the other two separate to keep the red from bleeding too much but this is definitely not necessary! You may even like the look of the red changing the lighter coloured veggies.
You can either serve right away or you can let it sit like this (in the fridge) for the veggies to absorb a bit more of the flavour. I served right away this time around and it was a great hit!
Mabon’s the second harvest holiday and signifies the coming of the end of the witch's year (Samhain being New Years’ on October 31-November 1) and therefore ends of cycles, death (or the Death card in tarot,) and success or accomplishment. We see this as we slowly switch over to autumn as the leaves change colour and fall to the ground and we see our gardens being picked cleaner and cleaner of the fruits of our labour. As we switch over to the dark half of the year, the half more attached to spirit, it is all the more important to ground ourselves and being around all of these root veggies and earthy colours is a great help to that. In addition to grounding during this holiday the spiritual and magickal aspects include: balance, death, gratitude, preparation, sharing, success, agriculture, community, and family harmony.
As with any Pagan holiday, (and for some of us we try to do this all the time,) seasonal food is very important. The one thing that is the same throughout the holidays is FOOD, specifically Cakes and Ale ceremonies or feasts. For Mabon we find ourselves turning to the real dirty, earthy foods that grow underground like beets, potatoes, turnips, parsnips and carrots as well as wheat, grains, pomegranates, apples, gourds, squash, corn, seeds, nuts, beer, and cider.
With today’s recipe I don’t think it's important to list every possible correspondence; I just want to focus on a few that i think really hit the nail on the head for Mabon.
Sage: wisdom, good luck, guarding the home, and grounding
With winter coming we are preparing to be in the home and hoping for the winter to be successful. Wisdom and good luck foster this success. And grounding is important as we enter the spirit half of the year.
Carrot: dispel illusions, and protection
Helps us to see what truly lies ahead and to rid us of the naivety that everything will turn out fine even if we don't work at it. Surviving winter was a lot of work. Providing protection to us as well as the crops that are to sustain us through winter.
Beet: blood (literally and metaphorically,) ancestors and, grounding
As the spirit half of the year dawns, connection to our ancestors becomes stronger and so anything that strengthens that ability as well as keeping us from straying too far from our own reality is a great two-for-one.
Parsnip: health, prosperity and, protection
Our harvest season isn't quite over so any added prosperity is a plus. And then echoing the other protection from carrots with the added health benefit is to set up our success for making it through the winter.
Obviously I stuck to very traditional goals for these correspondences but I did it for a reason. This is a fairly ancestor related holiday so I think it's good to look back at what they were celebrating and going through around this time. In the same vein, I think it's important to be thankful that we (most of us at least) aren't going through the same hardships. We’re here in this time and place because they were able to make it through the hardships we look back on today.
How are you celebrating Mabon? I want to hear from you! Check the sidebar for all the other places you can find me on Social Media and let me know!
SHORT AND GRITTY
Ingredients:
2 medium sized beets
2 parsnips
2 carrots
Cooking oil
A dash ea. Salt and pepper
⅓ cup vinegar (I used white but apple cider or rice wold work)
⅓ cup oil (EVOO is my preference but any high quality, light tasting oil will work)
1 tbsp prepared horseradish
1 tbsp dijon mustard
½ tbsp dried sage
1 tsp dried basil
1tsp dried oregano
1. Roast veggies ahead of time
2. While they're cooking combine all ingredients from vinegar down
3. When cooled, chop into bite sized pieces if you haven't already
4. Toss veggies in dressing. Serve immediately or let rest in fridge.
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