Food Network Magazine - (03)March 2020

weeknight

cooking

INSIDE THE

Test Kitchen

VEGGIE CONFUSION

turnips and rutabagas? Even the

pros mix them up sometimes!

Turnips are smaller, white and/or

purple on the outside and have

a peppery bite. Rutabagas are

and are sweeter than turnips.

thick skin. Taste both veggies in

the chicken dish on page 49 and

see which you like better!

GREAT SALADS

Start with a salad kit!

To make the Vietnamese

pork dinner salad on

page 49, we used an Asian

salad kit. Most brands

include some mix of lettuce,

cabbage, carrots and

scallions, plus wonton strips

and almonds. Look for other

fun blends that you can

beef up: A Southwestern

salad kit is perfect for a

quick taco salad and a kale

salad kit tastes great

with cooked grains.

TRY SOME YUCA

We love using yuca in stews: The South American tuber has

a neutral flavor and doesn’t break down the way potatoes do.

The only downside is that it’s a real pain to prep, so we’ve

been using frozen instead: It’s already peeled, chopped and

ready to go! To make the stew on page 48, we just dumped

the bag of yuca into a slow cooker.

BLENDER MAGIC

“You can totally change the texture

of a soup or sauce by pureeing it.

To make the chicken tortilla soup on

page 53, I put everything in the blender,

including torn corn tortillas. Instead of

the usual brothy tortilla soup, this one is

almost like cream of chicken—without

Stephen Jackson

Test Kitchen Director

60 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ●MARCH 2020

FOOD PHOTOS: RALPH SMITH; FOOD STYLING: BARRETT WASHBURNE.

Our chefs dish out tips from their latest batch of recipes.

Do you know the d ifference between

yellowish on the outside and inside

Rutabagas are tougher, too: You'll

need a paring knife to remove the

the cream! Try pureeing

your favorite chunky soup

or sauce sometime and

see what happens."

THE SECRET TO