Roasted Rutabaga

Two different presentations — same ingredients. That’s what you get with my roasted rutabaga recipe with fresh sage and Medjool dates.

Last week I was staring at some rutabagas, but figured they were just barely above Brussels sprouts on the vegetable pecking order — in other words, I didn’t think I’d care for them.

Fortunately my Facebook friends came to rutabaga’s rescue, suggesting every thing from a plain butter/salt/pepper mash, to adding a vanilla bean, to loading up a spicy curry or beef stew with them.

In the end I roasted them in the oven with a sweet onion and whole cloves of garlic, drizzled with olive oil, of course.

My dilemma was what to do next? I have to admit that sticking a fork in them and calling it a day was tempting — and tasty, too.

But you know me — can’t leave well enough alone — especially when my garden’s sage and McClendon’s SelectMedjool dates were an option. And I didn’t want to add cream or butter, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

So I made a “pistou” of sage, dates and roasted garlic. Pistou is a French olive oil sauce similar to pesto.

My version isn’t a true pistou, which is basil, garlic and olive oil muddled together to top a rustic vegetable soup, but this is my recipe so I can call it what I want — a sage date pistou.

I stirred some of the pistou into mashed rutabagas, making the naturally sweet vegetable a tad more sweet.

(You can spoon the remaining pistou over goat cheese for an impromptu snack, served with a fruity rosé, perhaps.)

Mashing the roasted rutabaga was a little more trouble than serving them cubed — and making the pistou is even more effort, but it is so darn delicious.

I did get the same sweet, earthy taste from the rutabaga cubes topped with sliced sage and chopped dates, so that’s the way to go if you’re pressed for time.

The printable recipe below gives instructions for roasting rutabagas, and then details the easy route (just garnishing with chopped dates and sage) and the not-as-easy route (mashed with pistou).

Either way — cubed and roasted, or roasted and mashed — it’s a delicious seasonal side dish, perfect to pair with roast chicken or pork.

And now I have a whole new appreciation for this winter root vegetable (also called a swede or yellow turnip).

Rutabagas just moved up a couple of notches on the vegetable pecking order. (Sorry Brussels sprouts — your still stuck at the bottom.)