Blue Ribbon Rutabaga

Introducing one of two mammoth rutabagas...

The two who infiltrated the carrot bed...

Weighed out to twelve pounds each!

 I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my friend the rutabaga. If you haven't met this vegetable before, you should know that it is a member of the cabbage family--a cross between cabbage and turnip--and it deserves a place at your table. We grew them for the first time this year and have been pleasantly surprised by how versatile and delicious they are. Their greens can be used just like kale and if you asked our partner-in-farm how to eat this root he'd say, "Try it raw, don't cook it." They are sweet and crunchy and dense and way better than a turnip raw. "Ha!" I can hear you all chortle to yourselves at the idea eating these roots at all, but I urge you to give them a chance. Here are a few very simple ways to include rutabaga in your eating repertoire (for those of you that are getting rutabagas every other week through our veggie subscription, be thankful we didn't stick you with a twelve pounder and please comment with your own ways of preparing rutabaga if you have them :)
1) Slice them and use them raw as crackers. Wil made a snack of rutabaga slices, cream cheese, and homemade hot sauce tonight. My comment was, "Wow, it's like a real snack!"
2) Make rutabaga fries. Cut up into sticks and roast them drizzled with herbs and olive oil.
3) Boil them and smash them. You can use just rutabagas or a combination of potatoes and rutabagas. Make sure and mix in some milk and butter and salt and pepper too!
4) Cut into bite size pieces and mix into a grain salad. I made rice salad yesterday with carrots, rutabagas, and peas mixed into the rice while it was still hot, then flavored it with a little vinegar, oil, Bragg's Aminos, and gomashio.
5) Put it in soups and stews in place of potatoes. The last few potatoes we have in the crisper drawer from when we harvested last summer are sprouting and so we've been holding out to plant them again instead of eat them. Rutabagas can really cut down the cost of your potato budget (just kidding). Potatoes Anna made with rutabagas is delightful.

Here are a few more photos I couldn't help but share because they are so beautiful. Hope you enjoy.

Bathing Onions

Red Giant Mustard

Thanksgiving Bouquet