Become a Working CSA Member.  Learn more →
🔍

Category: Rutabagas

  • Root Vegetables Gratin

    I love making vegetable gratins. You can layer flavors with different vegetables and liquids of your choosing and they meld into something magical. You can use all one type of vegetable and one type of liquid, or mix up any combination of vegetables and liquids that you like for your own unique dish.

    Cooking something ‘au gratin’ is a generic term that means; baked or broiled in a shallow dish. I’m pretty sure too there is an assumption that there will be a crunchy crust on top.

    I like to make this root vegetable gratin at least one or two days before I am serving it, which works out great for Holiday meals. If you make it ahead and cook it until it is ‘just done’, let it cool and then refrigerate it until the day you are serving it the gratin will have time to soak up a lot of the liquid and plump the vegetables with all that goodness.

    You can make it the day you are serving it. It will be delicious but it will be more soupy than if it is left to sort itself out in a refrigerator for a day or two. The added bonus of making it ahead is that you have a beautiful dish already made that just needs to be heated up, leaving you free for other things.

    Basic vegetable gratin ingredients and method.

    • Olive oil
    • 1 or 2 onions, leeks and or fennel sliced thin about 2 cups
    • 3 pounds total root vegetables potatoes, celery root, rutabagas, carrots, turnips peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
    • 2 1/2 – 3 cups total of any or all of cream (see note below), milk, chicken or vegetable stock. I start with 2 1/2 cups of liquid and add more when the I put everything in the casserole dish if I need more.
    • 1-2 cups grated gruyere cheese (optional)
    • 2 – 3 tablespoons minced fresh herbs like thyme, sage or oregano (optional)
    • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    • 2 cups coarse fresh breadcrumbs or panko (optional) mixed with 2 to 3 tablespoons melted butter or oil. I didn’t use any this time, my vegetables will be crunchy on top and soft inside the casserole.

    Method-Heat your oven to 375°F. Butter a deep baking dish that will hold all your vegetables. A 9 X 13 dish is usually big enough for this amount of vegetables. I used an 9 X 9 inch dish that is pretty deep. You can adjust the amount of vegetables and liquid to whatever size pan you have. This is a very forgiving method of cooking.

    Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large deep sauté pan over medium heat and add the onions and fennel if using. Cook until they are tender, about 10 minutes.

    When the onions and fennel (if you are using it) are tender, in the largest bowl you own, combine the onion mixture with the other vegetables and 2 1/2 cups of whatever liquid you are using with about 1 scant tablespoon kosher salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper.

    Mix it up really well, I use my hands. The vegetables stick together so separate them and let the liquid and cheese and onions make friends with all the root vegetables.

    Pour mixture into a buttered dish and sort of organize it and smoosh it down a little. Now decide if you need more liquid. The liquid should be just below the vegetables. Add more if you need to.

    If you are using breadcrumbs, mix them with butter or oil until evenly coated and distribute evenly over the top of the dish. I didn’t use breadcrumbs this time.

    Bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours uncovered (I like to put any casserole on a baking tray incase anything spills over in the oven, you decide if you need to do that or not),  check the vegetables to make sure they are really tender when stabbed with a small knife and the top is browned and bubbly. Over done is better than underdone. This is just done at this point I would cook it another 1/2 hour if I was serving it right away or turn on the broiler and brown it up more. But this is fine for finishing later.

    If you are serving it out of the oven let it set for 15 minutes at room temperature and serve hot. If you are making this for serving later, cover it and put it in the refrigerator.

    On the day you are eating the gratin pull it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before you put it in the oven. Putting a cold ceramic or glass dish in a hot oven isn’t a good idea. Preheat the oven to 375F  and reheat it until it is brown to your liking. This picture is taken while the gratin was in the oven, the oven light makes it look yellow.

    I took the picture of the gratin just out of the oven, then we all stood around and ate most of the crunchy top vegetables on top before dinner :-)

    Note– Like I said, gratins are very forgiving. You can use all cream and have a very luxurious dish. I love using all cream with potatoes and celeriac. It makes a gorgeous holiday side dish . You can use all stock and have a light dish highlighting all the vegetables. Today I used a little cream, like 1/2 cup and the rest milk. If I needed more liquid I was going to make some vegetable stock from the bouillon base and top it off. I didn’t need it though and to be honest; I wanted to use up the milk to make room in the refrigerator for other stuff otherwise I probably would have used some stock.

  • Mashed Root Vegetables

    In the Fall when vegetables like rutabagas, parsnips, purple top turnips, and celery root (aka celeriac) start showing up in our CSA share it’s the first time some people have seen these and of course they want to know what to do with them. I always say the same thing; anything you can do with a potato you can do with any root vegetable and, they are all interchangeable. Not only are they interchangeable they are so interesting and delicious together, mix and match any and all you have.  Baked, mashed, roasted, au gratin, scalloped, and grilled you can do it all with any of them.

    Today I was making some mashed potatoes and I had some parsnips, celery root, carrots and a rutabaga so I am making a mixed root vegetable mash instead of just plain mashed potatoes.

    Peel and cut up whatever vegetables you are using. I didn’t peel my potatoes or carrots but I did peel everything else.

    Put the peeled and diced vegetables in some salted water.  Bring that to a low boil and cook until the vegetables are very tender. I cooked mine about for about 25 minutes. I added some pepper and herbs too. Celery root floats, weird huh?

    Drain the cooked vegetables and fish out any herbs if you added them.

    I was making this for a simple weeknight meal so I wanted to keep it light so I used milk and some olive oil. If I was making this for Christmas or Thanksgiving I would use heavy cream and lots of butter. The cream and butter make it fluffier.

    I just eyeball the amounts and err on the side of less because I can always add more.

    Milk and olive oil in the pan, oh, I rinsed out the pan.

    Add the veg back and mash and taste to see if you want more salt or olive oil or butter if you are using that.

    I like my mash a little lumpy. Keep mashing if you like yours lump free.

    That’s it. So easy and quick and deliciously earthy and complex compared to just plain mashed potatoes.

    So good. Enjoy your winter vegetables.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Lentil Soup using any Root Vegetable and any Green

    Any root vegetable is good here; rutabaga, potatoes, carrots or turnips (scarlet or Hakurei) or parsnips would all be good.

    This is super simple to make and it makes a lot, so you will have leftovers and the leftovers are great. You can throw in any extra grains or vegetables you have to freshen up the leftovers and eat this all week, oh and this just happens to be vegan.

    I love adding a little bit of vinegar to lentil dishes, I add a splash about 1/2 way through cooking when I add the greens, if I am using greens and usually a little more right before eating it. If you don’t think you’ll like the vinegar just start with just a little and add more to taste or leave it out. It will be delicious either way.

    To make this you’ll need;

    • 1 1/4 cups green lentils
    • 12 oz canned (or cartoned?) or fresh tomatoes —  (1 1/2 cups)
    • 2 large onions, chopped
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 2 tablespoons to a 1/4 cup vinegar to taste – I used white balsamic, I like the slight sweetness but any vinegar is good – red wine vinegar is good.
    • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon fresh or dried thyme leaves
    • 2 cups peeled and diced root vegetable(s)
    • 2 cups diced carrots
    • 2 cups chopped greens – collards, spinach, chard – green are totally optional
    • 6 cups water
    • crushed red pepper flakes to taste
    • freshly cracked black pepper to taste

    Peel and dice the rutabagas and dice the rest of the vegetables you are using. I don’t peel carrots. Put everything in the amounts above in a pan except the vinegar and greens.

    Simmer that for a total of about an hour. About 1/2 way through cooking add about 2 tablespoons of vinegar and your greens and finish cooking until all the vegetables are cooked through. It’s fine to cook it longer. This photo is when I added the greens it needs to cook at least 1/2 hour longer.

    I like eating this with an added splash of vinegar and olive oil and bread or croutons.

    See you at pickup.

    Mo

     

     

     

     

     

  • Rutabagas and Storing Winter Squash

    Rutabagas might be new to some of you.

    rutabaga

    Rutabagas are a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. I think they taste a bit like broccoli, but they have a completely different texture than brocolli. I use them like I would a potato. Mash them, roast them, or add them into soups and stews with other root vegetables. Rutabagas add a great taste and texture to mashed potatoes. I posted a blog about rutabagas last year here http://redwagonfarmboulder.com/2012/10/23/root-vegetables/ you might want to check out.

    Rutabagas will store in your refrigerator for a long time so don’t feel like you need to use them right away if you are overwhelmed with vegetables right now. They will be just fine a month from now.

    Same with the winter squash you have been getting, they will store until at least Christmas. I sometimes hear people at pick-up saying, “I haven’t used up my squash from last week so I think I’ll swap mine this week”. Don’t swap it! Take it!! Winter squash will keep for a long, long time. This is how I store my squash.

    storing squash

    On a little shelf, off the floor in the garage. Don’t put them on the floor in the garage. It gets too cold and the squash will start to rot where it is touching the floor. All these squash will store for at least 2 or 3 months in a cool dark area in a garage, or a cool area in your house. If you have pumpkins they won’t store as long, so you might want to use the pumpkins before you use your winter squash. You can almost always interchange pumpkins for winter squash in most dishes.
    Some houses I have lived in have a cool closet by the front or back door. That would be a good place to store you squash, until you use it, if you don’t have a garage.
    However you use them, take them, store them, enjoy them! They are one of my favorite foods. I have lots of recipes here to use your winter squash up and there are tons more ideas and recipes out there.

    Well, I guess this is really it. The end of a great season. Cheers, thanks, stay warm, have a restful off season and hopefully we will see you back here next year.
    Thanks for reading my posts and all the great feedback!
    Mo