Winter Root Vegetables

After returning home from a Baltimore Thanksgiving gathering with Joe's family friends yesterday evening I was astonished to find a lonely rutabaga in the crisper drawer of my refrigerator. I had purchased it a few weeks ago after growing curious of the larger purple-blushed bulbs propped up next to the carrots in the produce section of my grocery store. Knowing I needed to cook this ASAP and also wanting something relatively healthy after the past week of feasting, I found the following recipe, but made a few manipulations including adding leeks, excluding potatoes, and doubling the olive oil.


Roasted Root Vegetables with Mustard


3 tbsp. Dijon mustard, coarse
6 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper, fresh ground
4 carrots, sliced 1-in lengths
2 parsnips, sliced 1-in lengths
1 rutabaga, 1-in cubes
1/2 large yellow onion, 1/2-in wedges
3 leeks, sliced 1-in rings

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk together mustard, oil, and spices in a large bowl. Prepare vegetables and mix with the mustard sauce until well coated. Let vegetables marinate for 10 minutes and then place on baking sheet. Bake for 45-50 minutes turning every 15 minutes. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.

This recipe rocks. It is a wonderful way to experiment with winter root vegetables and I have to admit this was a first-time experience with rutabaga, leeks, and parsnips! Fantastic! The mustard flavor was more muted than I would have preferred but I think it is because I didn't use coarse Dijon like the original recipe calls for. I ended up drizzling some homemade mustard dressing on top (olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper shaken in an almost empty mustard bottle) and ketchup. The ketchup wasn't the most elegant side to pair with this but I had a craving for it tonight. Next time I won't because it disguises the simples spices of this dish.

Grilled leek greens and mustard veggies.

There were so many leek greens to discard that I googled "eating leek greens" and I discovered you can eat them! I opted for grilling them on my George Forman grill brushed with olive oil (pictured above). The leaves are quite fibrous and resemble giant green onions in my opinion.  I think they might be nice drizzled with some soy sauce and sesame seeds.


I also had some dried pumpkin seeds that I pan toasted using hot light olive oil and sprinkled with cinnamon and salt. During this heating process, a very pleasant cinnamon fragrance drifted from the pan which I found to stir up feelings of comfort.  I was also surprised to find that the seeds began to jump out of the pan like popcorn in the last few minutes of heating from steam bursting from the seed coat!

Sweet-n-savory pumpkin seeds.

In addition to these experiments, I whipped up some tahini based scones while the vegetables were roasting so that I could just slide them into the already-pre-heated oven when they finished. The recipe can be found on food.com as well from this link.  I used a glass drinking glass to cut the scones into round shapes after rolling out with a rolling pin. Also they received overwhelming positive feedback, I have to disagree. I would have to suggest from my experiences to hand shape into an inch high small circle for better rising, adding a 1/4 cup of honey to the dough to sweeten up a bit, and dipping the top of the scones in sunflower seeds to make them stick better (or drizzle some honey on top as a glue).

Rustic scones.