Name That Veggie

I didn't want to get out of bed this morning.  I even contemplated not showering.  Gross...right?!  I think not having any down time over the weekend finally caught up with me.  Besides that, it was just gorgeous outside.  I thought about packing the boys up and heading outside for a hike or something fun.  If it was a few degrees warmer we might have done it, but I decided that what I really needed was a good long talk with my mom.  So I told the boys that we would delay the start of school for an hour while I had a nice chat.  My hour turned into two but no one complained. ; )

We finally got started with our day.  Bryce fortunately, had an easy language and math day.  Brian took a good hour plus to do his algebra but finally finished by lunch. (He is just now finishing up with the rest by dinner)  While the boys worked I got busy in the kitchen, again, this time with some raw veggies that a friend from church gave me yesterday.  Again, not wanting to let something go to waste I researched recipes to find the perfect use for all the root vegetables I was given. 

My first task was to identify the vegetables.  ha ha.   Seriously folks, I didn't know what some of them were. 
A little nagging voice in the back of my head started whispering words like parsnip, turnip, and rutabaga, but I wasn't sure if it was right.  Thank goodness for google.

Here is what I came up with:

 PARSNIPS (Not white carrots...that was the boys' guess)

 TURNIP

RUTABAGA

SWEET POTATOES

I also received five beets.  Two of the five are golden beets - that was a new one for me.  The beets were the easiest to figure out. 

 I boiled them in water for 40 minutes, peeled the skins, sliced them, pickled, and canned them.  After the initial boiling I had to taste the beets, and kept tasting them.  They were so yummy.  I managed to can 3 pints of pickled beets and have a cup left over to eat tonight for dinner.

For the rest of the veggies, I got a little more creative.  I took one of the sweet potatoes ( I think they are sweet potatoes, but they are not orange inside.) and the rutabaga and sliced them into fries. 

  I then coated them with olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, and salt. 

Bake them in the oven at 425 degrees for 30 minutes (the rutabaga fries took 45 minutes) until browned and crisp.  Talk about yummy.  Bryce and I devoured them.

We both like the sweet potato fries the best.  My favorite dipping sauce for sweet potato fries is 2 T ketchup, 1 T mayo, 1 tsp paprika, and 1 tsp of dijon mustard.  Mix it all together and it is awesome.

I think I will use the parsnips and turnip in a lentil stew later this week.  That seems like a good use for them.  

So now I know and have eaten some new veggies.  I think I just might add them to my summer garden.