Oven-Baked Rutabaga Fries

If I have learned anything from this Pregnancy Foodie Project, it's that I can eat weird vegetables and survive! Remember the turnip? I did a mashed-potato-wannabe dish with those and lived to tell about it. Remember the kumquats? That's one crazy fruit, but I'm still here. And if you had asked me a week ago to pick a rutabaga out of a line up I wouldn't have been able to, but now I know what they are and I ate a whole 2 pounder, by myself! In fact, it took 3 of the grocers at the store to make for sure which root vegetable actually was the rutabaga. They're learning along with me!

Oven-Baked Rutabaga Fries
I did a facebook poll and asked y'all what the heck I should do with this crazy thing, and my favorite idea was from Layna Edd. She suggested Rutabaga French Fries, so that's what I did. Thanks, Layna!

Oven-Baked Rutabaga Fries2 lb rutabaga Olive oilGarlic saltSmoked paprikaCayenne pepperGround red Chipotle
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cover a baking sheet in parchment paper or foil.
Peal and cut into strips.
Place in a bowl.. Drizzle in enough olive oil to just barely coat all of the strips. Season liberally. I used quite a lot of the smoked paprika and a little bit of all the other seasonings. 


Spread the fries out on prepared baking sheet and place in the oven. You will either need to do this on two pans or in two batches so that the pan is not over crowded.


The tricky part is the baking time. I actually cooked these for quite a while. I saw one recipe for these hat said 15 minutes, but mine were still raw at that point. You need to bake them past the raw stage where they  are still hard, then past the stage where they are soft, and finally they will start to crisp up. I kept checking mine after every 5 minutes, and I finally took them out after about 35-40 minutes.

The end result is different than French fries or potatoes, but the seasoning on them is great! They definitely have a "healthy" taste to them, but I liked it. And for a healthy low-carb, and much lower fat option than regular fries, these babies are worth a try!