Help With Rutabagas

[cozybug]

Hi all, I'm new to rutabagas and I bought some last night for a new recipe. My question of the moment is: If I cut them up ahead of time to roast in the oven later, will they turn brown like potatoes? What I'm referring to is the discoloration potatoes get if not cooked immediately after cutting them.

[greygarious]

I've had them, and cooked them - I find them okay but toward the bottom of my preferred vegetable list (move over, broccoli rabe), Here's a stupid question - are they a stand-in, as a starch, for boiled/mashed potatoes, or is their role as a side vegetable along the lines of mashed winter squash or parsnips, which would take the place of carrots, corn, or a green veg? I've never heard of anyone putting gravy on turnips, yet sometimes people seem to serve it as the starch component of a typical meat&sides dinner plate.

[cozybug]

Thanks for your replies mona and bushwick. I can't wait to try out a new vegetable tonight!

[bushwickgirl]

I love rutabaga. Roasting is good with maple syrup or honey and butter, well seasoned.
If you're boiling and mashing, they can take plenty of butter, salt and black pepper for seasoning. I mix the rutabaga with mashed potatoes sometimes.

[bushwickgirl]

No rutabagas don't. Potatoes (and apples, etc.) contain polyphenol oxidase, which causes browning when cut or ruptured cells are exposed to oxygen; it's the chemical reaction known as oxidation (rusting.) Rutabagas do not rust.

[monavano]

You could place the cut pieces in water just to be safe. I do this with potatoes.