November 18, 2013

Whotabaga?

dani@slyrooster.com Sides, Vegetarian Rutabaga 3 Comments

Continuing with the theme of Thanksgiving, I’m proud to introduce the rutabaga. “Introduce the rutabaga?” Ironic I know, because this hearty vegetable has been around for centuries but for some reason has never achieved the rock star status of its root vegetable brethren, such as potatoes or carrots.

It could be the “ugly step sister”  syndrome because the rutabaga will certainly not be crowned in any beauty pageants. Evidenced below:

Or maybe it’s the shoppers’ uncertainty of what to do with this hard, nubby, purple-tinged globe that has it relegated to the back of produce shelves. Regardless of the reason, I’m going to encourage you to stand on your tippy toes while supermarket shopping this week and reach for that rutabaga.

I was surprised to learn that rutabaga is a cross between turnips and cabbage. It has the look and feel of a turnip but no semblance to cabbage at all. My guess would have been that it’s a turnip-horseradish hybrid because raw rutabaga has a peppery scent. Choose the one that feels heavy in your hand, is firm, smooth, with no cracks and is colored purple and cream. Oh, what the heck, grab two. As with almost all vegetables the smaller ones will be sweeter and therefore better. These rutabaga can keep for up to a month in the refrigerator drawer but instead of storing, prepare a Rutabaga Casserole for your Thanksgiving table. In addition to having a long shelf-life and being inexpensive, rutabaga are rich in fiber, vitamin C and potassium.

To prepare rutabaga, trim the root and stem ends and peel the skin which sometimes has a protective waxy coating. At this point it can be shaved and served raw or sauteed, sliced and roasted, or cubed, boiled and mashed. The following recipe takes advantage of the later method and the resulting dish is sweet, smooth and comforting.

The recipe below will likely fall into the category of “Thanksgiving only” and with its orange color it really does exemplify the holiday. The children and probably most of the adults at your table, won’t know what they are eating but they’ll likely go back for a second scoop. If you’re traveling for Thanksgiving dinner, this dish transports easily and can be quickly reheated at your host’s home. And since the dish, and rutabagas in general, are not fussy it can be thrown in with whatever is already in the oven at whatever temperature.

There’s no time like the present to familiarize yourself with rutabaga. Take the plunge, go outside your comfort zone and give this lonely vegetable a try. And if you happen to be a rutabaga fan, please share your favorite preparations with the rest of us because I’d love to broaden my repertoire.

Finally, this recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law and has no source. It’s pretty basic so while I feel remiss in not crediting the author, I am guessing that this dish has appeared many times in many places, with slight variations.