So, rutabaga. Yeah. I’ve never eaten one. Turns out I wasn’t entirely sure what it looked like either. I was at the store and they grouped the rutabaga, parsnips and beets all together with no direct labeling. I thought it might be the large ogre looking root but I wasn’t sure.

So, I hailed a woman standing near by and said, “Do you know which one of these is a rutabaga” She seemed amused and asked me what I was making. I told her, “creamy carrot and rutabaga soup.” She said it sounded good and helped me choose the correct root vegetable. I felt a little silly but I would have felt much sillier if I had chosen the beets.

Yeah, the rutabaga, it’s kind of big and solid. I had to use all my strength to get my knife through it. That’s a heck of a root. It had a nice orange texture, not unlike melon. The soup, it was pretty good. It came out surprisingly creamy (the title of the recipe should have clued me off, but who knew plain yogurt could cream that well). It was a little like eating baby food, but the flavor was nice. Of course, I modified it a bit with 4 garlic cloves and ginger powder. Chris says it needs more garlic and more ginger—perhaps a whole ginger root? Hmmm. I might make it again; however, I feel that it needs a good meat paring. Perhaps turkey? Regardless, it was nice getting to know a new vegetable.

Here are some of the photos I got during the cooking process. Very pretty, no?

Heat oil and butter, add 1 medium onion cook until translucent. Next add rutabaga, carrots, celery, garlic and salt and stir to combine. Cook over low heat until the roots soften. Then add 3 cups of chicken broth (my modification) and bring to boil. Cover and simmer until totally soft 45-60 minutes.

Purée the soup until smooth and blend in plain yogurt. Note: something I learnded the first time I puréed hot soup, let it cool down and do it in batches because the stuff will grow in the blender.

Garnish with more yogurt if you like, and eat it up.