Lemon-Glazed Carrots and Rutabaga

Last week of school before winter break, which means the week is entirely composed of holiday concerts, classroom parties, and the collective vibration of children who are approximately one candy cane away from structural failure. I love it, genuinely — the chaos is a specific kind of warm chaos, the one that comes from everyone anticipating the same thing. My aide Dominique and I have a tradition of getting coffee from the gas station on the corner on the last day before break and standing in the parking lot for five minutes just breathing. We did it Friday. It was eighteen degrees. Neither of us cared.

Ryan switched a shift to have Christmas Eve off, which involved a chain of negotiations with his crew that I'm told was like a diplomatic summit. He emerged victorious. Owen has become aware that Santa Claus is a person who brings presents, which has introduced a new level of behavioral leverage I was not fully prepared to deploy. Nora has some skepticism about the whole enterprise — she wanted to know how he gets in, specifically, and was not satisfied with "chimney" as an explanation because we don't have a chimney. Ryan explained that Santa has a key for apartments. She accepted this with narrowed eyes.

Drove to my parents' Saturday for an early Christmas gathering — Kristin on a video call for part of it, Matt drove in from Springfield, Dziadek Wally in his chair in the living room in his good sweater. Mom made barszcz, the clear beet soup, and the little mushroom-filled uszka that she folds one by one. I helped her fold while the twins terrorized the living room. The kitchen smelled like beets and dill and Christmas and my whole childhood. Wally ate two bowls and told Matt a story about 1963 that I have heard four times and never minded hearing.

I came home with leftover barszcz and a plan to make the mushroom soup for actual Christmas, using Wally's recipe from the notebook. I'd gotten dried porcinis last week, plus fresh creminis from the Jewel clearance rack. I practiced the technique Saturday night after the kids were in bed — not the full recipe, just the mushroom base. Something about the dried mushroom soaking liquid as the base, not discarded. Wally nodded when I described it to him. He said something in Polish my dad translated as "yes, that's the part."

After a Saturday that smelled like beets and dill and Dziadek Wally’s good sweater, I came home wanting to build the rest of our Christmas table around that same feeling — rooted, simple, warm. These lemon-glazed carrots and rutabaga are exactly the kind of side dish that earns its place without competing for attention: a little brightness from the lemon, a little sweetness from the honey, root vegetables doing exactly what root vegetables are meant to do in December. Wally would approve, I think, of anything that respects the vegetable.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 small rutabaga (about 1 lb), peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for boiling water
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Instructions

Boil the vegetables. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rutabaga cubes and cook for 8 minutes, then add the carrot pieces and continue cooking for another 10–12 minutes, until both are just tender when pierced with a fork. Drain well and set aside.
Make the glaze. In the same pot or a wide skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the honey, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Let the glaze bubble gently for 1–2 minutes until slightly thickened.
Glaze the vegetables. Add the drained carrots and rutabaga to the pan. Toss to coat thoroughly and cook over medium heat for 2–3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the glaze clings to the vegetables and they are heated through.
Season and serve. Season with salt and pepper, taste, and adjust lemon or honey as needed. Transfer to a serving dish and scatter the chopped parsley over the top. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Lemon-Glazed Carrots and Rutabaga — The Side Dish That Tastes Like Coming Home