We only got around to pruning half our crabapple tree before the snowstorm hit. But the skies have been clear all week, setting the un-pruned suckers into relief against the now-blue, now-white sky. No more snow or rain as an excuse: get out the pruners! It’s almost spring, for heaven’s sake.
But even though I need to prune like it’s going to be spring tomorrow and more buds appear every day, we’re not there yet. Not quite.
We’re still eating like it’s winter. The cellared stuff. The roots. And I’m amazed that we’ve made it halfway through February and, still, there are some roots I haven’t eaten yet this season.
Or ever. The closest I’ve come to eating a rutabaga was when I had to write about one for a 101 writing course my freshman year of college. It was one of those inane writing prompts fabricated to make you sit down and write. Describe a rutabaga. Two pages, double-spaced. Ready, go.
No. Wait. That was the year I should have written about a rutabaga. It was my freshman roommate who had to write about that, not me.
A few days before classes started, a sophomore told me that although everyone considered this writing class a requirement, it (hush, hush) wasn’t. You could totally get away with not signing up at all! No one would care one way or the other.
Not knowing that twenty years later I’d be punching out my thoughts on the keyboard every day, hitting my head full of aging neurons against the wall, I decided to prove I was my own person (no list of “Suggested Coursework” was going to influence me). I didn’t sign up for the course.
I congratulated myself when my roommate came back to our room one afternoon, flummoxed. “What’s a rutabaga?” she asked. “I have to go buy a rutabaga! Does Safeway even have them?” I had no idea so I shrugged and went back to reading The Iliad.
Do you have moments like this in your history? Times when you wish the older you could go back to the younger you and inhabit her body for the two minutes it took to fill out the card requesting classes for the upcoming semester? I do. I often wonder if taking that class would have turned me toward writing (maybe even food writing) earlier in my life, saving me from late nights full of painful sentence construction, or at least making them more lucrative. Every time I think about that rutabaga assignment – heck, every time I happen see one in the store – I think about the lost opportunity. Maybe that’s why I’ve never eaten one.
But history is made now. By the time you read this post, I will have bought a rutabaga and photographed it on the picnic table out back. I will have scrubbed its turnip-like skin and julienned it; mixed it with hijiki, lemon juice, cilantro. I will have eaten it and formed an opinion. And I will no longer be able to say that I’ve never written a word about a rutabaga.
Now that I’ve broken the ice, maybe there are some rutabaga-themed essays in my future. Or even a love poem. I’ll think on that one while I’m pruning.
Rutabaga and Hijiki Salad
by Chie
Rutabagas are mild and crunchy, perfect for this salad.
If you’d like a slightly different texture or sweetness,
they can be swapped for turnips or daikon radishes.
This is a great chop-and-toss salad to go along with your next meal.
1 medium rutabaga, scrubbed and julienned
1½ tsp sea salt
juice and zest of 1 lemon
¼ c hijiki seaweed, soaked in boiling water to rehydrate
3 T extra virgin olive oil or toasted sesame oil
½ – 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
pinch of ground cumin (optional)
toasted, ground sesame seeds
Toss all ingredients well and allow flavors
to marry for about 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Enjoy!
The Plum Palate 
Thank you for another enjoyable food blog. It is delightful.
A great post, thinking back to your college days. I can’t say I’ve ever eaten rutabega (swede to me) raw before, it just didn’t occur to me.
I’d never thought of eating a rutabaga raw. Though, given that people (well, Scarlett O’Hara and my dad anyway) eat regular turnips raw, I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise. I’ve got a few rutabagas in the kitchen. I may just have to try it. Gorgeous photos.
Thank you, friends! Michelle and promenadeplantings, I’m right there with you. Even though I’d never eaten one, I’d assumed rutabagas were to be cooked, period. Not so. I found it very mild and appealing, without any of the “dirt-like” flavor I’d read about. I took the remainder of the salad to a potluck and it was eaten up in no time.
Wow this recipe looks really interesting, I too never thought that rutabaga can be eaten raw…
I should try this soon…
Lovely read… Beautiful post.
Thank you for visiting, Reem! Do let me know what you think of raw rutabaga if you try it.
Your pictures are amazing!!
Thanks so much, Jane – I love your shingle, too!
That’s a very healthy looking salad and the perfect Spring salad – not long to go now! It does use ingredients I actually haven’t heard of and that rutabaga does look awfully like a turnip.
Thanks for visiting, hotlyspiced! Hope you can get yourself a fresh rutabaga someday soon. We’re still eating the cellared ones from last season. But they’re local :)
Absolutely beautiful! I love making the best out of what the season’s giving us. Possibly time for me to give the raw rutabaga a chance :)
Thank you, Kaitlyn! Let me know if you give raw rutabaga a try. It’s such an interesting option for winter.
I have never heard of rutabaga till 5 mins ago when I read your post. I don’t think I’ve seen it being sold at a market before but I suppose I can imagine how it taste like from what you just described.
Am sure the salad is good..light and refreshing..very healthy too! =)
Cool! I’m so excited to introduce you to the rutabaga – let me know what you think if you try one out! Thank you for visiting!
I will definitely! Now that I know its name and how it looks like, I will be on a look out for it!
I was going to ask what Hijiki was but then saw the “seaweed” word in your recipe. I think I hated rutabaga growing up simply because I despised the name. I do enjoy it now and your photos make it look awesome! I think your are already an erudite writer whose technique could have been altered by that class!! Keep up the great writing! xo Smidge
Thank you, Smidge! What kind and encouraging words. I enjoy the writing but, as you know, it takes a lot of work. Thank you for reading and for writing your own beauty into the world. Glad we’re connected in this big, wide world!