Sometimes, easy can be a good thing. A much needed thing.
Today is our second snow day of the week. We have more snow days coming. My kids are thrilled. Me? Not so much. This winter thing is getting old.
Lately, my kitchen and meal plans have geared more towards easy and kid-focused than anything else. At this point, I’d be happy to throw macaroni & cheese from a box at them for every meal, since I know they will eat it. And I know that I will only have to clean one pot. I can’t do that though. I just don’t have it in me. Though I do have my secret stash of Wacky Mac macaroni & cheese in my pantry. Am I the only one with a boxed macaroni and cheese stash? Don’t tell anyone.
I had a full day of work yesterday. The kids had a full day of school. I felt my sanity return for a minute.
I came home to my clean kitchen in time for dinner preparation and I felt a sense of normalcy. Never mind the fact that a few hours later I would get another snow day call.
Anyhow, Tuesday is the the day that the local fish store delivers some fresh wild fish right to my front door. I started doing this a few weeks ago to try out. I’m happy to not schlep out at the witching hour and thrilled that I have some fresh fish at my door ready to go. We got some fresh flounder yesterday.
Tuesday also happens to be the day that there is a local farmer’s market outside my office. The winters are slim pickings at the market, but I love to support local farmers and I’m happy to know that my fabulous and local root vegetables were grown locally. I picked up some parsnip and rutabaga. I hope to use the parsnip for soup, but the rutabaga became french fries to go with our dinner. My take on fish and chips.
I’ve roasted rutabaga many times and always love it. I decided to cut it in to french fries and bake them and see what happened. I used my crinkle cut tool in the hopes that my kids would be attracted to the familiar crinkle cut fry look. I was right.
After tossing the rutabaga in olive oil, salt and pepper, and baking them, my daughter checked out the sheet pan of fries and made a jump for joy. She excitedly pulled out the bottle of ketchup was thrilled to have a great side dish on the menu.
Rutabaga fries are a great low carb alternative to potatoes. They are super easy to make, have a great flavor and when baked, provide a nice crunch.
- 2 Large Rutabagas
- 2 tbsp. olive olive oil
- 2 tsp. sea salt
- 2 tsp. ground pepper
- additional herbs as spices
- Preheat oven to 400
- Wash and peel rutabaga
- Slice in to preferred french fry shape
- Toss french fries with olive oil and spices
- Bake for around 20-25 minutes until the fries get crispy
- Serve with ketchup or other dipping sauce.
