Day 24 - The Accidental French Fry

It is one of life's great justices that the potato neatly fits into the vegan diet.  A person can go without meat and dairy, but living the rest of my life without another potato touching my lips would have been very difficult to imagine.  Since I'm trying to stay as fat-free as possible, french fries and potato chips are out for now.  But there may come a time when they can make a reappearance.  When faced with a meal at a hamburger joint, french fries are pretty much the only go-to item on the menu.

Last week, I was roasting veggies for a recipe I was trying, Roasted Root Vegetables with Quinoa (Day 18).  Though the original recipe didn't call for rutabaga, this rather under-appreciated root veggie has always been one of my favorites.  My mother used to boil up cubed rutabaga, then mash it and serve it with lots of butter, salt and pepper stirred in.  For those of you who haven't tried rutabaga, you can usually find them coated in wax at the grocery store.  They can range in size from small (baseball size) to huge (cannonball size).  Try to buy the smaller size as they're easier to handle.   Just peel them like you would a potato.  They are very dense, so a big, sharp knife is needed to cut them.  The larger they are, the more difficult they are to cut.

When I cut my rutabaga, I just happened to cut it into shoestrings about the size of Macdonald's french fries.  I put them on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper, gave them a very light spray of PAM, added a little salt and freshly ground pepper, and put them in a 375-degree oven for 45 minutes.  When they came out, I couldn't stop eating them.  They were sweet and crisp and better than a potato french fry!

Rutabaga bears a resemblance to turnip, but originated much later than the turnip. It is believed that rutabaga is a hybrid of the wild cabbage and turnip. This hearty root veggie is otherwise known as Swede or Swedish turnip or yellow turnip and is well-known for its delicate sweet flavor.  Some sources suggest that rutabaga is native to Scandinavia and Russia. According to historical records from the 17th century, this beta carotene-rich vegetable was used as animal fodder as well as consumed as a vegetable in Southern Europe.  Today rutabaga has gained popularity in Europe and America due to its health benefits.

Rutabaga is a rich source of protein, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and other beneficial nutrients.  It's a good source of Manganese, Potassium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Dietary Fiber, Thiamin, and Vitamin B6.  And a one-cup serving of rutabaga provides half the recommended daily requirement of Vitamin C!  With that said, I have a feeling that rutabaga oven-baked french fries might turn into a regular treat for me.  Now, I just have to find something good to dip them in.