Salt & Vinegar Rutabaga Chips

There was no plan to get rutabaga. I did not put it on my grocery list (a list which, incidentally, I left tucked into the cookbook, leaving me unprotected against the carefully arranged fruit stands and aisle shelves). So I don't know why I picked up the rutabaga. I had aimed for winter squash; that, at least, I recalled writing on my wobegone list. But the rutabaga caught my eye. A fat, stumpy root vegetable with skin that looks bruised. I've never cooked with rutabaga before. In fact, I thought there was an 'e' in the word. Perhaps my ignorance over the thing was precisely what peaked my interest. In any case, in it went into the basket, along with the spinach and tomato sauce.

I struggled to find any rutabaga recipes. Apparently it's not in the common cookbook's repertoire. Not one of the house's five cookbooks offered a single recipe. But an online search led to general roasted vegetable recipes and a few purees. So I thought I'd forge ahead and slice it thin, roasting it with the flavors of crisp salt and sharp white vinegar.

The end result was a handful of tangy-salty mezzaluna rounds of rutabaga. Their earthy flavor cut into the acidity of the vinegar; I thought it a good pairing. The vinegar is added two ways; during the roasting and after they're out of the oven, with a quick simmer in vinegar water. A mandolin would probably provide the best mechanism for thin slices. But a serrated knife left me with pretty skinny rounds that cooked in a decently-short time and readily absorbed the flavours I threw at them.

Salt & Vinegard Rutabaga Chips
Ingredients:
1 rutabaga
1/4 cup plus 1 TBSP distilled white vinegar (I'm sure balsamic would be tasty as well, but I went for regular this time)
2 tsp. salt, plus a little extra
oil for pan

Directions:
--Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a pan with oil.
--Peel rutabaga and slice in two. Slice each side into thin half-moon slices. (If you have a mandoline, I'd suggest using it here. I just sliced as thinly as possible with a sharp serrated knife.) Place in a small bowl and pour 1/4 cup vinegar over slices. Toss to coat.
--Spread slices on pan in a single layer. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Bake 10 minutes, turn slices over and sprinkle with rest of salt. Bake 15 minutes more or until chips are beginning to curl and are deep brown on edges.
--Heat 1 cup water with 1 TBSP vinegar in a small saucepan on high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and add chips. Simmer three minutes. Drain chips and immediately sprinkle with a pinch of salt.