Rutabaga (not Turnip) Soup

Root Soup as I now like to call it... So I bought a big rutabaga at the store last week thinking that I would introduce a new vegetable to my kids. I was feeling brave one night and decided that would be the night for rutabaga soup. It was a crisp, fall night and the kids had been playing outside all day. The perfect end to the perfect day would surely be a hearty , hot cream of vegetable soup! They were always my favorite growing up. This rutabaga soup would definitely be a new one to add to the list. So I set to it… for some reason, when I bought this root vegetable I knew fully well that it was a rutabaga. But, that fateful night, I got it in my head that I was cooking a turnip and so I looked up ideas for turnip soup. The rutabaga-by-the -way-of-turnip soup turned out delicious! And now I have more ideas for rutabagas! It is a very tough root, so have your knives sharpened to peel this baby! Celery would have been great to add here, so if you have some add it in with the onions. This is a very rough recipe because I was simply using what I had in my pantry and fridge that particular night without having to run to the store. There is plenty of room for improvement here, so please tell me how you varied the recipe if you try it! Here is my version…

Ingredients
1 rutabaga (not turnip)
½ large sweet onion
2 large potatoes
white wine
Chicken broth
2 Tbsp. butter
fresh parsely to garnish at the end
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper


Dice up the onions. Cut up the rutabaga into about 1 inch square sizes. Cut the potato into roughly the same size cubes.


Melt the butter in a large stockpot. Add the onions. Add the rutabaga. Fresh garlic would be lovely here, too, but I didn't have fresh so I added a bit of garlic powder. (Fresh is always best, but when I'm in a pinch I go to my spice cabinet!) A bit of celery salt also replaced the fact that I did not have the fresh celery I would have loved! So, cook the onions and rutabagas in the butter a bit. Add about a cup of white wine, depending on how you are feeling. Now add the chicken broth/stock. (I'm not good at specific measures... I'd say about 2-3 cups of liquid or until the liquid is almost double the vegs.)Let this boil for about 5 minutes before adding the potatoes. Add the potatoes and let it all boil together on medium heat until potatoes and rutabagas are fork tender. (your knife or fork should easily slip in and out.) Now you are ready to puree the soup in your blender! (be careful not to let the blender fall on your head causing you to curse out loud when getting it down from the very high shelf that it's been collecting dust on. This will also slow down your serving time. I'm okay though, just a little bump.) The soup is very hot so be careful to hold the blender lid down while you puree, and don't fill the blender too much- only about halfway at a time. Puree a little at a time. Stir all the pureed soup together adding sea salt and a little fresh pepper to taste at the the end. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley it's ready to serve! Enjoy! One of my kids did!

<---Cakes with her soup..."Momma-you make the best beggie soup evew!!!" And we only had to threaten the Baron with hot peppers (on the table) if he didn't finish the soup that his mother had worked so hard on! Haha! The bread was also bribery. I love this last picture! Where's the baby? Well, let's just say he didn't approve of the soup either. I guess boys don't like rutabagas.