Turnips, kohlrabi, celery root, rutabaga. Root vegetables all, and often left for last in the CSA box by otherwise enterprising cooks who are flummoxed by their ugly looks and famine-food reputations. Among these intimidating vegetables, rutabaga looms large — both because of its size, and because it is simply my favorite one of all to eat. I want to cajole you into giving rutabaga a chance. Here's why it deserves a place of honor right beside your potatoes and sweet potatoes.
First, the facts. Rutabaga (also called swede) is in the Brassica family, that of turnips and cabbage, and when you cut one open you get a very definite whiff of the cruciferous. Technically, rutabaga is actually a direct cross between cabbage and turnips, and it shares turnips' slightly bitter flavor. Raw rutabaga tastes milder than turnips though, almost like a carrot without sweetness. It's crisp, juicy, and just a tiny bit piquant.
In cooked dishes, though, that's where rutabagas shine. The rutabaga has a more mellow, golden appearance than turnips or potatoes, and when cooked it turns sweet yet savory — like the richest golden potato you can imagine. It's less starchy, but still very satisfying.
Another plus to the rutabaga: It's actually quite easy to peel! The outer peel is usually waxed to preserve freshness all winter long, and it peels away easily with a sharp vegetable peeler. The flesh itself is very hard, but I like to slice it away in thin slices, starting from the outside.
I like to mash rutabagas with a little milk and cream, just like potatoes, or add some chunks to mashed potatoes. They add color and flavor, and all on their own they mash up deliciously golden and colorful. They are just as simple to cook as potatoes, and maybe a bit more delicious.
Convinced yet? Here are a few favorite recipes to try out...
• Autumn Recipe: Creamy, Smoky Whipped Rutabaga
• Rutabaga Chipotle Soup
• Rutabaga and Celeriac Puree with Seared Scallops
• Tip: Add Rutabaga To Mashed Potatoes
Do you cook with rutabaga? What's your favorite way to eat it?
Related: Ingredient Spotlight: What's a Rutabaga?
(Images: Faith Durand)
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I like to cube up a rutabaga, boil it, then put some butter on it with lots of fresh black pepper.
I love rutabaga! I cube it and roast it in a root veggie shepard's pie- very tasty!
I love rutabaga!! I usually cut it into large cubes, place them in a large baking pan and add brussels sprouts, turnips, and carrots sometimes, add a little olive oil, salt and pepper and bake in the oven. Excellent!!
Swede, as it is commonly known here in New Zealand, is an old fashioned veggie that people either love or hate.
It has Scottish connetations here and the best ones are usually thought of as coming from the South Island, where they are grown and are so much sweeter when frosted.
They have a nursery element to them and are where often chopped up with carrot and boiled then mashed and served as a side dish.
I remember my Grandmother making a steamed pudding using carrot, kumara and swede grated into what was basically a scone dough (3 cups plain flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 2 oz butter and half and half full fat milk and water. Mix together lightly with a knife) stir in grated veggies, pour into pudding bowl then put bowl into a pot, fill with water and steam until cooked, about an hour. Serve with a pouring of custard.
The other term we had for swedes when cooked was Bashed Neeps. Chopped swede, boiled until soft then mashed and served with heaps of melted butter and a slew of grated black pepper. As a child I hated this but as an adult I LOVE IT. Real comfort food on a bitter cold night.
In some area's the term Neeps can also be knwon as/thought of as Turnips, Now baby turnips lightly steamed and used in a veggie medally, but I digress.
I am now officially hungry for winter food and it is the middle of our summer here.
I love rutabagas! Turnips....not so much. My favorite way is to cube it fry it in a pan with tallow or lard, add some sort of green like chard or kale, top with egg (keep it runny).
In the roast chicken Thomas Keller makes in Ad Hoc at Home, he suggests roasting rutabega along with the chicken and some other veggies. This recipe is the reason I first tried rutabega and it is incredible! So, I think roasting it is my favorite way to eat it but maybe I'll try mashed next.
It's called swede over here in the UK too. I'm not really familiar with cooking it but mashed sounds a nice idea. I also came across this recipe for a vegan "rutabaga" gratin recently which looks divine!
http://www.dietdessertndogs.com/2010/12/02/a-gluten-free-holiday-iv-side-dishes-rutabaga-gratin/
Use them in pasties (the Upper Peninsula/Cornish meat-veggie pie/turnover pasty, not the fashion accessory pasty)
I love swede! It's commonly eaten here in the UK, when boiled with an equal amount of carrots and then roughly mashed with lots of butter and pepper. I love it, and always make more than is needed for Sunday dinner so I can reheat the leftovers the next day. Plus it's pretty much always cheap which makes it even more excellent :)
I put them in my stew along with carrots, onions, potatoes and turnips. Yum! My mom always used them in her pot roasts.
I love them raw! I just taught a kids healthy cooking class and served rutabagas alongside raw sliced turnips and carrots with a yogurt-parm dip and the kids tried and liked them all! They have a very mild taste when they are raw! Try it!
I just roasted rutabaga for the first time last night. Tossed with some coconut oil and lightly sprinkled with salt, they were delicious!
My mother always called these turnips -- didn't know the word rutabaga 'til later in life. These were a must at all holiday and sunday dinners. Still love them -- but my partner, not so much. And yet he likes parsnips, which I find blander. Go figure.
Rutabagas are wonderful! Steamed, mashed, and mixed with butter, a bit of cream (not really necessary, but yummy) and dusted with some freshly grated nutmeg they're heavenly.
I didn't have enough potatoes while making borscht one day, so I added some rutabaga. It worked so well, I now make a point of adding it to the soup.
People who turn their noses up at rutabagas should not be allowed to have them. That will leave more goodies for the rest of us.
Have always loved their sweet earthiness.
My Irish grandmother prepare like mashed potato. She would add some cooked bacon crumbled and a tablespoon or so of the bacon grease.
I actually just wrote giving rutabaga a chance. I'm cheering for this underdog! the rutabaga apple soup I made was enjoyed by my kids and their friends (I just didn't tell them what was in it!)
http://kaleeats.blogspot.ca/2013/01/rutabaga-apple-soup.html
Just last night I made a rutabaga hash with peppers, onions and bacon and it was fantastic.
I'm a huge fan of root veggies (my fave is my roasted root veggie mash!) but for some reason rutabaga frightens me! It's that one vegetable that I never give a chance...looks like it's about time! ;-)
Rutabaga, carrot and potato mash with raw chopped onion and crumbled bacon; lovely!
Oh, did you know you can also eat rutabaga raw? Here's a rutabaga slaw with apples and red onion. It's refreshing!
I actually put rutabaga in chicken soup, it's pretty awesome
Here in the UK we tend to either cut it into cubes and add it to stews or, my personal favourite, boil it up with carrots then drain and mash with lots of butter and black pepper. It is lovely on the side of a roast meat or on top of a shepherd pie. It sounds pretty exotic to call it rutabaga. In Yorkshire, where I am from, we call it turnip rather than swede. Confusingly we also call turnips, turnips! We also carve them at Halloween instead of pumpkin.
I've been trying them this year. We've done them a couple times mashed with sour cream and dill.