It's no crime to love rutabagas. So let me freely admit my passion for Rutabaga Homefries with Chilies, Mint & Maple.

Rutabagas are easy to lust after. So don't judge me. I made mine a little sweet mixed with a little heat. I call that the star treatment. I took my flavor cues from Mario Batali on this one. But calling them "homefries" was my idea. I like homefries and all the warm comfortable associations they bring to my favorite (yep very favorite) of all root vegetables.

I chose to cook them homefries style– because it's super easy, besides homefries make me smile. You see, I was making baked chicken. Which is a dish that needs very little embellishment to be perfect. Still I like to serve something with it that's fresh, but familiar. Homefries are certainly familiar at my house, making homefries using rutabaga is just the kind of fresh take on the familiar I strive for.

So I peeled and diced the rutabaga, then sauteed the cubes with salt and a little maple syrup, cooking them until the flesh was tender and translucent, and the edges golden. Cooked this way rutabaga is as sweet and rich as butternut squash. But somehow a bit piquant as well. I upped that hint of heat with a hefty helping of red pepper flakes.

There was only one flaw in my plan. I couldn't stop eating these rutabaga homefries straight from the pan. It started innocently enough. You know, "taste for seasoning". We've all done it, take a small spoonful and see if it needs anything. Only this time a spoonful led to scoopful, before I knew it I was standing at the stove bent over the pan– shoveling these homefries into my mouth. I might have eaten the whole pan full too. Fortunately the timer went off on the roast chicken. Three electronic chimes that brought me back to reality just in time. Five more minutes and this side dish would have become the whole meal. GREG