Rutabaga Butternut Stovetop Tajine

Here's another rutabaga recipe you might enjoy. It's a wonderful Moroccan-spiced vegetable stew called a tajine. Traditionally, a tajine is a stew made in a special clay pot also called a tajine. The pot is a beautiful round baking dish with a tall conical lid. I love making slow-cooked stews in my tajine, but they bake for several hours. Here's a delicious stovetop adaptation that takes less than half the time of a traditional tajine.

Prepare the spice mixture:

1 t cumin seeds
1 t coriander seeds
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 t salt

Toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry cast-iron skillet over medium heat until aromative and lightly browned, 1-2 minutes. Cool, then grind in a spice mill or with a mortar and pestle. Stir in cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

2-3 T olive oil
1 C chopped onion
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 C carrots chopped in about 3/4-inch chunks
2 ribs celery chopped in about 1/2-inch chunks
2 C rutabaga chopped in 3/4-inch cubes
2 C butternut squash chopped in 3/4-inch cubes
Peel from 1/2 orange, pith removed
2 C water
1 C canned garbanzo beans
1 t agave syrup
Chopped cilantro for garnish

1. Heat olive oil in heavy skillet or saucepan with a lid. Add onions and garlic. Stir to coat with oil. Add spice mixture and cook until onions are translucent, but do no brown.

2. Add carrot, celery, rutabaga, and butternut squash. Stir to coat with spices.

3. Coarsely chop orange peel and add it to the pot with 2C water. Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down slightly and cook on a medium simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes.

4. Add the garbanzo beans and agave syrup. Uncover and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are very tender and the liquid has cooked off enough to make a very thick sauce, about another 15-20 minutes.

5. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro and serve over couscous or rice.

Enjoy!

Shelley

What to Do with a Rutabaga

Given the regular appearance of roots vegetables in our CSA box, it's odd that we haven't had any rutabagas until now. I'm thrilled that this lovely vegetable (aka swede) with a beautiful yellow-orange color and a flavor that's a sweeter cross between between cabbage and turnips was included in today's bounty.

Anything you do with a turnip, you can do with a rutabaga. You can boil it, mash it, or roast it. You can even make oven-baked fries - they're delicious.

My favorite way to eat rutabaga is mashed with lots of butter and salt. Peel away the tough outer skin. Chop into medium to large chunks. Put the chunks in a pot of salted water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook until tender. Drain well. Mash. If the rutabag has retained excess water, you can return the mash to the same pot and boil it off. Otherwise, add butter, salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy.

A close second to mashed rutabaga for me is oven roasted. Peel and chop into desired shapes. I like to make thick julienne. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast in a 375 degree oven until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The time will vary depending on how thick you've chopped your rutabaga. Some people like to par-boil the rutabaga until nearly tender before roasting. You might like to toss red pepper flakes and/or chopped fresh parsley on the roasted rutabaga before serving.

It's probably no accident that rutabagas turned up right before St. Patrick's Day. They're a wonderful addition to the traditional meal of boiled corned beef and cabbage. If you start with a beef brisket that has already been "corned," or cured in brine, follow the directions on the package or put the beef in a pot with water. I like to add a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar and cider vinegar, a bay leaf, 1 minced clove of garlic, some freshly ground pepper, and a little allspice (as well as any seasoning packet that might come with the corned beef). Cover and simmer until nearly tender. This could take 2 to 2-1/2 hours for a 3 pound corned beef.

When the corned beef is nearly tender, add 1 coarsely chopped onion, 1 lb of peeled potatoes, 1 C peeled carrots chunks, and 1 rutabaga peeled and cut into large chunks. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Then add 1 small cabbage, cored and cut into large wedges or chunks. Cover and simmer 15 minutes more. By now the corned beef should be fork tender. Remove from the heat. Let sit about 10 minutes. Then slice the meat and serve with the boiled vegetables. A chewy, grainy bread and some nice mustard are excellent accompaniments.

This week's box included:

From Underwood Family Farms: Japanese turnips, red chard, butter lettuce, fennel, 5# navel oranges, purple carrots, purple kale, celery root, French Breakfast radishes, and rutabagas.

Rancho Santa Cecilia proivded Hass avocados and satsuma mandarins.

From Silver Lake Farms: Pea shoots.

Enjoy!

Shelley