Those of you lucky enough to have winter CSAs or access to year-round farmer's markets are probably starting to seeing quite a lot of these lovely purple roots! What do you like to do with them?
Although they don't look it, turnips are actually in the cabbage family. This is evidenced in their mild cabbage-like flavor, which can be a bit spicy when eaten raw but turns softly sweet when cooked. The interior is actually solid and crisp, similar to a potato.
Look for the smaller turnips that feel very firm. These will be sweeter and more tender than the larger ones, which can tend to get woody. And don't throw away the greens! These have a great spicy flavor and can be quickly sautéed or steamed.
In cooking terms, you can treat a turnip much like any other root vegetable. Peel off the skin and cut it into bite-sized chunks. Turnips can then go into a braise or a stew, or they can be roasted until crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Very small and sweet turnips can even be shaved raw into salads like radishes.
What are your favorite ways to eat turnips?
Related: Tip: Add Rutabaga to Mashed Potatoes
(Image: Flickr member Darwin Bell licensed under Creative Commons)
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...honestly? Stare at them, try and convince my hind-brain that they're not famine food/cattle feed, fail, and end up hiding them in stews etc... Stupid hind-brain... :D
Yeah, so far there's a lot of hiding them. Or mashing them with lots of butter and milk. Not because I hate them so much, but just because I've never found a recipe that really features the flavor up front and center.
At home we mash them up with a bit of butter. We only eat yellow turnips, but I'm assuming you can do the same with white turnips. We also mash them u p, and mix them in with mashed potatoes. I cannot remember the name of it, but it's a swedish dish my great grandmother used to serve. Either way, it's tasty. =)
I had them for the first time last week when they showed up in my CSA box. I used the recipe for braising and then serving with a mustard sauce from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. They were sweeter than I expected.
I pulled some out of the garden last night along with a couple of carrots and roasted them. They were pretty good. My parents have the bias against turnips, but didn't pass it on to me.
I have a lovely recipe for a cheese-and-vegetable pasty that I used to make a lot, which involved a couple carrots, celery, leeks, and a chopped-up turnip as the vegetables in the filling.
However - as you say, turnips are part of the cabbage family -- or, brassicae family, to be precise - and I've since developed a digestive intolerance to tubers and stems from the brassicae group, so -- I can have the turnip GREENS, but turnips themselves now give me bad indigestion. So -- no more of my cheese pasties. :-(
But I strongly recommend them to others, so even if I can't eat them, you can. (They're from the SUNDAYS AT MOOSEWOOD cookbook.)
We keep it simple and just roast them like we would red potatoes. A little olive oil (flavored if you like), kosher salt, and black pepper, and maybe a sprinkling of whatever fresh herbs are on hand when they come out of the oven. They are hearty enough to stand up to beef, but we actually enjoy them with fish just as well.
Braised -- slice into wedges or sticks, boil covered in water and/or stock with lemon juice and 1 T butter for about 30 minutes, remove the lid for another 10 minutes or so. I like them perfectly glassy and tender. They are so delicious-- slightly sweet and peppery. I can eat them by the bowlful and don't understand what's not too love. They're my bf's new fave, too. Turnips are a good low-cal source of Vitamins C, A and fiber.
I love them mashed with carrots. The two flavors balance each other out so perfectly.
I love turnips! My favorite way to prepare them is to cut them into wedges and sauté them until they've browned a bit. Then add some bread crumbs, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Meanwhile, cook some penne and add the turnip greens to the pasta water in the last couple minutes of cooking so that they wilt. Toss the pasta and greens with the turnip mixture and top with parmesan. Delicious!
I also like to eat them raw - they're nice and spicy.
I lightly scrub and/or peel them, cut into quarters or eighths, lightly coat in olive oil, add salt/pepper, and roast between 400 and 450 degrees until desired caramelization is reached. I fin them to be so deliciously juicy. I do the same with rutabegas, which turned out even better.
I roast them w/ carrots, whole garlic, onion, celery and a sauce of: tahini, oilve oil, lemon juice, sumac, aleppo pepper, marjoram, basil, salt and pepper. Really wonderful as a side or for a main meal.