Rutabaga and Onion Hash Browns

[Buttoni]

Nothing particularly fancy, but this simple, quick side dish is good with those breakfast eggs and bacon or sausage. It's just as good served as a side with a hearty, meaty dinner. This dish is pictured here: http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/rutabaga-and-onion-hash-browns/ I dipped up the entire batch on the plate in the pic and that is actually two servings pictured. I shared with my husband or I'd have never finished it all. :)

This dish comes very close to tasting like real potatoes. It’s ready in about 15 minutes. This recipe is not suitable until the starchy vegetable rung of the OWL ladder.

INGREDIENTS:

5 oz. peeled and diced rutabaga, ½” dice or smaller
2 oz. chopped onion
1 T. bacon grease
Dash each of salt and black pepper

DIRECTIONS: Heat bacon grease in non-stick skillet and saute chopped onion over high heat until ½ done. Add diced rutabaga to skillet and saute, turning often until rutabaga is fairly tender. This will take about 15 minutes of cooking. Salt and pepper to taste. This goes well with your breakfast eggs, sausage and bacon or makes a lovely side dish for meaty dinners.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 2 servings, each contains:

93 calories
6.6 g fat
7.95 g carbs, 2.05 g fiber, 5.9 g NET CARBS
1.1 g protein
25% RDA Vitamin C

[freckles]

This sounds great. I'm going to give it a try....maybe in the morn.

This recipe is not suitable until the starchy vegetable rung of the OWL ladder.

Why? My understanding is that rutabagas and onions are both induction friendly as long as you watch portions/carbs.

[Buttoni]

NANY pg. 154 sites rutabaga as a starchie veggie. I can't find a reference in DANDR at the moment, but know it's not on the Acceptable Foods veggie list and seem to recall Dr. Atkins mentioning it as a starchy veggie somewhere in DANDR, as I knew this before I bought/read NANY.

[freckles]

Okay...there's the difference. Since they are not mentioned in DANDR, I was going by Atkins for Life, which has the rutabagas in the "eat frequently" column. Other starchy veggies are listed in the "eat in moderation" and "eat rarely" columns.

Anyway....I am having these right now with bacon and egg for breakfast. They are good. They still have a bit of the bitterness that I've always found rutabagas to have, but it's a nice addition to my bf and a good, nutritious way to get in some carbs in the morn. I'm sure I'll make them again. Thanks for the recipe! :thup:

[freckles]

You know what....I've changed my mind. These aren't just good. They are VERY good. They are so good that instead of saving the fatty end of my piece of bacon as my last bite, I saved the last bite of the rutabagas instead. :lol: That's saying a LOT!

[Buttoni]

So glad you liked them, Freckles! I adore any kind of "hash browns" done with onion. It was always one of my favorite foods to do with charcoaled steaks when we were big-time into camping. The smell of the caramelizing onion outdoors is divine. :) The onion makes them ever so much better than just the potatoes/potato sub. It also tends to hide any turnip/rutabaga taste the older or larger veggies can have.

Another rutabaga convert under my belt? YEAH!! :cheer:

And you're right, The Atkins for Life book does have it in the eat regularly column on pg. 40. But I have to wonder if that was an error, because the Atkins forums still tell newbies it is a starchy veg and to not eat it until the starchy veg rung of OWL. Hmmmm. Curious. Maybe they reclassified it by the time NANY came out? Just dunno. It sure feels and tastes like a starchy veggie in my mouth. :)

[freckles]

And you're right, The Atkins for Life book does have it in the eat regularly column on pg. 40. But I have to wonder if that was an error, because the Atkins forums still tell newbies it is a starchy veg and to not eat it until the starchy veg rung of OWL. Hmmmm. Curious. Maybe they reclassified it by the time NANY came out? Just dunno. It sure feels and tastes like a starchy veggie in my mouth. :)

Well, I do know that I never ate them in induction....or after....in all the 8 years I've lc-ed off and on until now. Dh likes them boiled and then salted, peppered, buttered and that's the only way I'd ever heard of them being prepared. They are <awful> that way! :lol: So it's fun to know that I like them prepared differently.

[krystalr]

I've been making this for what feels like ages. One of my faves to go along with eggs.

One thing that I've found works really nicely, is if you par boil (strain really well - sometimes I pat it dry) the diced rutabaga before adding it to the pan with the onion. It really cuts back on the cooking time in the pan and gives it a more potato hash texture since the rutabaga is nice and soft inside and cripsy outside. :)

[Buttoni]

Yes, parboiling will shortcut time and improve texture a bit. :)

[zoiper]

Will try this. Getting sick of my single male repetition meals lol Thanks ladies.

[teresaw]

Had no idea what rutabaga was so I Googled and it's the humble sweed. Different parts of the U.K. call them turnips, but a turnip is a different vegetable...very confusing. Sweeds are yellow, hard as iron, and have a strong flavour. Nice mashed with potato and eaten with a meat gravy. Turnips, especially " snowball" variety are sweet and the last time I managed to grow a few I loved them raw. I would have thought they were highish carb, especially the sweed. Good to eat something different though......

[freckles]

Thanks for posting, teresaw! I had meant to come back with an update and forgot. I tried these par boiled and did not like them as well that way. I probably did them too long because they turned out more mushy. To me they are just as easy to just cut and saute. I like the turnips <almost> as well, but they have quite a bit less carbs than the rutabaga. Radishes are pretty good done up like this as well, but it's hard to cut up those tiny things. :lol:

[walnut]

i saw a recipe for hash browns made in a waffle iron. i think this recipe would work too~just grate the ingredients instead of dicing them, and cook it up in the waffle iron. i plan to try it soon!! :)

[Buttoni]

Hmmmm. Walnut, I'm not sure grating them will still allow them to get tender in the waffle iron. But a bit crunchy might not be so bad, as hashbrowns, actually. Do please post back and let us know how your grated/iron experimenting goes when you try it. I'm quite curious about that.