I don’t buy rutabaga often…wait, let me flip through my mental files….I don’t think I’ve ever bought it. Doesn’t the name imply the over-boiled vegetables that your Scottish grandmother might have forced you to eat as a child? The funny thing that we discovered about rutabaga is that it does in fact smell (and taste) a little like broccoli. And as I’ve found out over the last few days, it makes for the best mashers (add a little brown butter)…which leads to the best Shepherd’s pie. Which, if you ignore the vast amounts of butter and cream required to get you to the finish line, feels a little healthier than your standard white spuds. So for what it’s worth, I recommend giving rutabaga a try. If only to brag to your friends that your kids were eating it the night before.
ME: OK, hold on. Wait. This is the mystery food! What is this called?
LAUREN: Squash?
EMMA: CHEESE!
ME: It looks like cheese, doesn’t it?
LAUREN: Yellow squash?
ME: Yeah, it looks exactly like yellow squash, but it’snot.
LAUREN: Yellow melon?!
ME: Nope. What do you think it is, Sam?
SAM: Nothing.
ME: It’s not nothing. Do you want to smell it first? Who wants to smell it?
LAUREN: Smells like broccoli.
continue reading
