Rutabaga Lovin' {Plus a Plug for @steemitbloggers/#powerhousecreatives!}
Happy Sunday my friends! I haven't been posting as much of my cooking this past week, so I figured today was a good time to rectify that with a little update. This post is mostly inspired by my pal @puravidaville, as she was the one who encouraged me to give the humble rutabaga a little love in my own kitchen. Her rutabaga nachos definitely had me drooling, so I've grabbed a few roots the last few weeks at the market to add to my meal prep magic.
First off, I had no idea rutabaga is a cruciferous veggie, which automatically makes it a winner in my book due to the awesome health benefits of that family of veggies. Crucifers are powerhouses in helping the body fight cancer and contain beneficial fiber that can help regulate blood pressure and cholesterol. Not to mention these babies also contain tons of other vitamins and minerals to keep our bodies healthy and energetic. Though I love my spuds, rutabaga is a great alternative to rotate out with potatoes or replace if you need something slightly lower in carbohydrates.
The first week I grabbed a nice big rutabaga along with a bunch of other delicious root veggies that looked fantastic from my local farmers market. I think I got overly excited as it was the first market back after the holidays, though to be fair I get excited every week and tend to buy a little more than I probably really need. I remembered a recipe that I hadn't made in a while with lots of root vegetables roasted and then served with tomato sauce. I toss in some white beans to add a little vegan protein, but otherwise keep mostly to the original recipe. Oh, well except for tripling the amount of greens I toss in, too. You can never go wrong with extra greens. It is a super simple recipe, and a great way to put together any variety of in-season root vegetables.
The next week I also grabbed another totally rad romanesco to use again. That is another cruciferous powerhouse that I recently used for the first time. My farmer buddy only had enough to last for a few weeks, but luckily I was able to snag a head both weeks since I try to get to the market early every Saturday morning.
I opted for the roasted route on both the romanesco and rutabaga this past week. For the romaneso I made a tahini sauce with minced garlic and lemon juice to baste it with, then sprinkled on lemon pepper seasoning before roasting it whole. It took about 40 minutes in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven, though it might have cooked quicker if I didn't have a black bean loaf and the rutabaga fries in there, as well. I kept the theme and sprinkled the lemon pepper on the fries, as well. They took about 30 minutes to cook through.
Once everything was done I had a bit extra of the tahini sauce to drizzle on both the fries and romanesco. Yum! A pretty simple meal, but always hits the spot. I didn't record what I put in the black bean loaf, but it was a pretty basic mix of onions, black beans and black-eyed peas, quinoa flour as a binder and a bunch of spices. I may tweak a few things and try it again to put together a recipe to share. The fries really don't get super crispy, but I thought they were still quite delicious. A nice switch from the usual spuds, especially knowing how healthy they are!
Now that I lured you in with some delicious and nutritious food, I have to put in a plug for the @steemitbloggers (now known as #powerhousecreatives) group that I have come to know and love. We made it to the top ten of @theycallmedan's 10,000 SP delegation contest, so now need a little love to win. There are some great groups in the running, but @jaynie works her tail off to keep the #powerhousecreatives a top notch group. We also aren't as big as some of the other groups, so can use all the help we can get! If you don't have a dog in the race consider dropping a vote in for @steemitbloggers.
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I love how you prepared the veggies. I love roots in the winter months. There is nothing quite like them, great post.
Thanks @sunscape! Just when I think I've tried them all, I find some underrated roots that I haven't worked with a lot. And I feel like you can never go wrong with roasted veggies, too. Always a favorite in my kitchen in the winter. :)
I think roasted veggies is the only way to have them, keeps those earthy flavors in tack. So yummy!
Looks so nyummmmmiiihhhh @plantstoplanks, do you grow it yourselves?. #powerhousecreatives
I can't take credit for growing these yummy veggies, just cooking them. I am lucky to have some amazing local farmers who come to the local farmers market, so they are locally grown! We're working on the garden for the spring time here, but until then I go and get most of my produce from the farmers market. :)
Okay, love the rutabaga love. That green, gorgeous looking head of vegetable reminds me of cauliflower. Does it taste similar? I haven’t seen anything like that here but I’ll keep my eye out. Glad to see you put up a cooking post @plantstoplanks. You got to keep the recipes coming now that you are published :). Love the tahini drizzle by the way.
I had to keep my promise and finally put together a post! The romanesco is in the same family as broccoli and cauliflower, so it has a pretty similar flavor profile. Almost like a mix in between. It's just so darn neat-looking, too! It was great roasted with the tahini, but equally as good steamed and put into a salad. It's kind of fun to have something so interesting local since I usually get jealous of all the awesome tropical fruits that I don't have access to here. Just shows there's plenty close to home to appreciate, too.
There’s so much close to home to appreciate. I actually miss a lot of produce that I’ve always taken for granted. The veggies I do get from here dobtaste better though. It’s like they’re fresher or something. I’m glad you put that rutabaga to work. It really is a veg that I’m missing.
I might have put some rutabaga in my chili last night, too... ;) Maybe they've treated their soil better down there? I think that's a big problem here in the US. With all of the mono-culture crops so much of the soil is degraded and I would imagine that impacts taste as well as nutrition. Well that and the fact that most of the produce you can get in the stores is shipped from all over the place and not local. I can definitely tell a big difference in the veggies I get at the farmers market vs the grocery store.
Oh yeah, my farmers market veggies were always much better than anything I bought in the stores. I’d even tell Dandays “we are never buying grapes at a store again- I don’t know what those things even are but they are not grapes when the grapes we get at the farmers market are like little candies”. I think you’re right about the soil. There’s much less mass production here. We just bought a bag of onions, bag of tomatoes, bag of peppers of the side of the road and they are all delicious. I just add a little salt and lime squeeze and it’s perfect. That rutabaga though… they’re great in chili and stews aren’t they?!
oh my goodness...so I am cooking rutabagas today, lol must be the weather! Fries! Yum! comfort food to me:) Now this other vegetable...romanesco!! I have never seen this before, it is absolutely amazing, beautiful and so intricate, wow. What does it taste like? Cauliflowerish? I am stunned, I'm going to have to ask around about this, I would love o try it! Awesome post Katie!!
Haha, we must REALLY be on the same wavelength because I put the rest of the rutabaga I have left in my chili that is simmering away right now! Great minds think alike. 😉
I posted a few other pictures of the romanesco maybe 2 weeks ago? I think I may have seen it a few times before, but this was my first time working with it. Definitely cauliflower-ish in flavor and how you can work with it. The farmer who had it says the season is usually really short because they all seem to mature at once. I'm lucky I got some while I could!
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