Rutabagas in Garlic Butter

Flora Bella has the most beautiful rutabagas I've ever seen.They're small — about 3 inches long and an inch or so across — and come with their beautiful green leaves attached. When I saw them the other day, I snagged a bunch, and came home pondering what to do with them.

I love rutabagas for their flavor, but they are also a good source of minerals like calcium and magnesium, fiber, B vitamins (especially B6 — good for the nervous system) and beta-carotene. Of course, all vegetables are full of nutrients. The key is to eat a variety of them to get a good selection of the diverse nutrients we need to keep our bodies running smoothly. I recommend rutabagas as part of that diversity.

My favorite rutabaga recipe is Bashed Neeps, but I make that with large tough rutabagas. These seemed much too tender for that treatment.

While I pondered, I combined the rutabaga greens with some mustard greens for an excellent dish of sautéed greens. Rutabaga greens are soft and vaguely cabbage-y, I found.

Then inspiration struck with the rutabagas. I peeled them and chopped the one large one in half so they were roughly the same size. Then I cooked them in a pot of boiling water until they were tender, about 15 minutes. I drained them and set them aside until the last minute before I was serving dinner.

Then I melted some butter in a pan, mashed a peeled clove of garlic with a little salt on my chopping board and added it to the butter. When the garlic released its aroma, I added the rutabagas, stirred to make sure they were all buttery, and let them cook gently until they were warmed through.

I served them as a side dish with a meal of baked squash, sautéed greens and homemade veggie burgers. Larry said they were the best rutabagas ever, wonderfully tender and buttery.

I hope Flora Bella has more of these beauties next week, so I can serve up another batch of these delicious and healthy roots.