Fruit and Veggie Co-op is great. Fruit and Veggie Co-op is nutritious. But Fruit and Veggie Co-op can sometimes leave you with some very random vegetables. Like last week, when the crop consisted of pears, red potatoes, and…rutabagas.

Ruta-what? They look like turnips, but they come in a very wide variety of sizes. They’re also kind of hairy, and definitely hard to spell. All of which leads to the major question: how are you supposed to cook a rutabaga?

I, myself, do not have a kitchen, so I like to barge in on my friends and cook with them. Last week, those who participated in Fruit and Veggie Co-op were mystified by the rutabaga situation and were seeking guidance.

I had never eaten a rutabaga before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I knew people tend to roast root vegetables, so I started from there. First, I chopped the rutabagas into little cubes, tossed them with some oil and cumin, and put them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Once they were soft, I threw them into a spicy chickpea stew, which I served over cous cous. It was a good first rutabaga experience—they tasted kind of like sweet potatoes and blended very well with the stew. Success!

But there were still more rutabagas to be cooked. So, the next night, I used the rutabagas and red potatoes to make a country hash, with sunny-side up eggs on top (recipe below). It was very hearty and satisfying, and not particularly difficult—another rutabaga success story.

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed my rutabaga experience and I look forward to confronting more mysterious vegetables in the future. If you’re ever stuck with a daunting ingredient, just call me and I’ll come over and cook it. Seriously. Please?

Recipe for country hash, which will feed three hungry people:

Ingredients:

3 red potatoes, chopped into cubes
3 medium sized rutabagas, chopped into cubes
1 large onion, chopped
3 sausage links (I used the pre-cooked chicken ones from Weshop), chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
Chili powder
Paprika
2 teaspoons mustard
Salt
Pepper
3 eggs
6 tablespoons butter
Hot sauce

Instructions:

Melt three tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped rutabagas and potatoes. Sprinkle chili powder, paprika, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir every now and then so that they cook evenly. They should be ready in about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a different saucepan over medium heat; then add onions. When onions are a little bit tender, but not completely done, add two teaspoons of mustard (any variety), a couple dashes of hot sauce (again, any variety), and some chili powder. When onions are soft, add chopped peppers. When peppers are soft, add sausage, and stir for a minute or two.

When the rutabagas and potatoes are ready, add them to the other pan with the peppers, onions, and sausages. When the first pan is empty, wash it if you need to; then heat one tablespoon butter. Crack three eggs into a bowl; when butter is melted, add eggs to pan, and cook for two minutes, sunny-side-up style. Divide hash onto three plates, and place one sunny-side-up egg on top of each plate.