Root Vegetable Archives - Nerds with Knives

Roasted Miso-butter and Maple Sweet Potatoes

June 13, 2024December 12, 2016 by Emily

We’ve taken a classic fall sweet potato recipe and shaken it up a bit. Ginger and miso flavors add depth and spice to the baked dish, and even holiday traditionalists will be impressed.

Like many people, we have a Holiday cooking meal plan – I call it our WHAT WORKS list. The great thing about the WHAT WORKS list is that you don’t have to think about it too much – you’ve already got a dozen people to feed and a dining room to rearrange, and knowing ahead of time that Sunday is when you make stock, and Tuesday is when you make gravy, and this bowl will hold this much rutabaga, and the dog will need this many chew sticks to keep her occupied while you cook, is valuable currency in a stressful week. The trouble with the WHAT WORKS list is that, of course, you can get complacent. So it’s good to mix things up a little from time to time, and that’s where this sweet potato recipe comes in handy.

Whipped Rutabaga with Crispy Shallots

June 12, 2024November 14, 2014 by Emily

Whipped rutabaga is a fluffy, creamy side dish that will make your Thanksgiving sparkle – especially when paired with crisped shallots.

Poor rutabaga. They didn’t really do it any favors when they were naming it, did they? I mean, it’s not like the word just rolls off the tongue. Rutabaga. It sounds weird. Ru-ta-ba-ga.

The thing is though, what it lacks in grammatical elegance, it more than makes up for in flavor and texture. I think it’s criminally underused and if you’ve never tried it, you’re in for a treat. (Note: it’s also sometimes called swede or yellow turnips, depending on where you live).

Roasted Beet Salad with Hazelnuts and Goat Cheese

June 15, 2024October 10, 2014 by Emily

Roasted beet salad is all about the beets, baby. But you also need spicy greens, creamy ripe cheese and a balanced salad dressing. We show you how.

We all know there are vegetables that many, many people despise. (A Brussels sprout looks around the room nervously and begins to back away. Soon to be followed by a turnip. And then a beet. The beet grabs a stick of celery from a nearby Bloody Mary as it exits.) But the thing is, I’m pretty sure that most people just think they hate these vegetables. And the aversion they experience is not because these maligned veggies are actually gross*, but because they’ve most likely had them prepared incorrectly.

*Except for celery which actually is gross and no amount of jiggery pokery will change that.

Take Brussels sprouts, for example (always at the very top of the “hated vegetable” list). Many people boil them until they are a thoroughly revolting shade of gray and the texture of a moldy sponge. They also think that a little pat of butter will camouflage the criminally sulfurous smell. Then they wonder why there is a child-shaped hole in the wall and little Timmy has run off to join the circus. BUT, take those same sprouts, coat them well in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast them in a very hot oven and they’ll come out as crisp as french fries and just as addictive. And little Timmy can stay in school and become a doctor, or a film editor or some other, equally respectable occupation.

Sweet & Sour Pickled Radishes

June 12, 2024April 11, 2014 by Emily

These pickled radishes are my go-to if I’m making tacos, quesadillas, or really any kind of sandwich. They are so quick and easy and are just the perfect thing to perk up anything slow-roasted or long-simmered. Best of all, they’re ready in under an hour and last for weeks.

We aren’t ardent picklers, but we do have two favorites: quick-pickled red onions, and these tangy babies. You can also add herbs (I like thyme, bay leaf and tarragon best), chili flakes or whole dried chilies for spice. I had a big tin of pink peppercorns that I picked up from Sahadi’s last time I was there so I added them as well.

Black peppercorns, pink peppercorns, mustard seeds

Roasted Sunchokes with Garlic and Herbs (Jerusalem Artichokes)

June 12, 2024March 14, 2014 by Emily

Roasted sunchokes (also called Jerusalem Artichokes) make a fantastic side dish. They’re creamy on the inside with crispy edges and a mild, nutty flavor. They also happen to be packed with vitamins.

A couple of weeks ago, Matt’s sister Hayli got us tickets to see Asaf Avidan at Irving Plaza (quick aside: along with The Ritz and CBGB, Irving Plaza was the place to see hardcore, punk and ska bands when I was in high school. To this day, it still feels wrong to be in there without a mohawk and zebra-print creepers on.)

Anyhoozle, the show was great fun (thanks Hayli!) and since we stayed around Union Square, we got to walk around the Greenmarket before we headed back on the train. (I love living in Beacon, but I do miss that damn market. Seriously, there is nothing else like it). Since we were wandering, we didn’t really want to carry loads of stuff but I just couldn’t resist picking up some sunchokes, which are in season right now.

Now you may be saying to yourself “Hmm, that looks suspiciously like the grizzled, terrifying hunk of old ginger I found hiding behind my refrigerator when I moved last year.” And it’s true that these aren’t the most attractive vegetable in Earth’s garden of delights but we wouldn’t let a trivial thing like that stop us from enjoying something so delicious, would we? Good answer.

Sunchokes are also known as Jerusalem Artichokes for some reason (they are neither from Jerusalem, nor are they related to artichokes. Go figure, but they are part of the sunflower family so that at least makes some sort of sense.) Whatever you like to call them, they have a lovely nutty flavor which some people say reminds them of water chestnuts.

Pasta With Butternut Squash and Bacon

June 12, 2024February 7, 2014 by Emily

Down side: Polar Vortex Episode 2 (The Revenge of Polar Vortex) will not go away and this latest storm dumped another FOOT of snow on us. We had a burst pipe, a flooded (frozen) basement and our street looks like a luge track from Sochi.

Up side: Pasta with a creamy, bacony sauce and lots of butternut squash!

Okay, down-side wins but since winter refuses to behave, at least make some yummy, cozy dishes while it’s still frigging freezing out.

I’ve mentioned before how much I adore butternut squash so when I saw Melissa Clark’s recipe for pasta with parsnips, I decided to adapt it. I’ve made a few changes (other than substituting the main vegetable, obviously). I used shallots instead of leeks because I just like them and always have them on hand. I also added a little bit of garlic and chili flakes.

The result is delicious. A little smoky from the bacon, sweet from the butternut squash. Yum.

Nerd Tips:

This recipe gives you tips on peeling and seeding a butternut squash.
Bacon is better for this because it’s smoked but pancetta will work as well.
Don’t stir the squash too much or it will turn to mush (I resisted a “squashed” joke here. You’re welcome)
Any short-cut pasta will work well here.