With crisper weather, it is harder to stuff down a large bowl of salad, so a creamy pureed root vegetable dish is like a warm hug to the tummy. It is also an easy win for my clients to up two servings of vegetables without spiking their blood sugar too much. Fiber is a great way to aid the natural detoxification process through the bowel.
Okay, back on track here. I hope you try it simply because of how tasty it is. It’s a kind of a hybrid between mashed potatoes and mashed yam, providing complimentary flavours. It’s not too sweet which is why I don’t like mashed sweet potato but it’s not too bitter and sulfuric like eating pureed rutabaga on its own. The recipe is very forgiving and flexible. If you want it to be more bitter or more sweet you can adjust the ratio of the rutabaga and yam based on your preference.
Nutritionally, this recipe combines two powerhouse antioxidants: carotenoid and glucosinolates.
Yam contains a family of carotenoid compounds including beta carotene, lutein, violaxanthin, and 9′-cis-neoxanthin as well as small amounts of α-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, antheraxanthin. This family of compounds have cellular antioxidant effects. The most notable is beta carotene’s effect in protecting cells against gene mutation that triggers early cancer changes in cells. Beta carotene can also be turned into retinol in the body to help strengthen your mucous membranes like your lungs, eyes and gut.
Fun fact: do you know rutabaga is a cross between a kale and a turnip?
Being a cruciferous vegetable, rutabaga contains glucosinolates. This is a family of sulfuric compounds that include indole-3-carbinol, sulforaphane, di-indolmethane and isothiocyanates. These compounds are beautiful protectors against hormone-related cancers and deactivate some of the harmful effects from hormone-disrupting chemicals from our environment. Most notably indole-3-carbinol arrests estrogen-related growth and sulphoraphane deactivates cancer stem cells. Because of its hormone benefits, I find having more of this recipe before my period helps keep my skin clear.
Now here is the recipe:
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