Turnips

Season: Fall-Winter, Spring

Storage: Store dry turnips & turnip greens in your refrigerator crisper. Greens will keep well for up to 1 week. To store turnips longer-term, remove the greens and store in your refrigerator up to 1 month.

Wild turnips love temperate climates and are native across Europe and Asia. Unsurprisingly, turnips and radishes are heavily featured in cuisines across Eurasia. Turnip greens have a sharp taste similar to mustard greens, but their bulbous roots are a sweet and tender. Traditionally, northern Europeans boiled and mashed turnip roots. We love them roasted or sautéed. Fun fact: turnip carving into Jack-O-Lanterns is a tradition in Ireland and Scotland.

Get your PIF turnips through our Farm Share or at local farmers markets. Don’t forget to share your favorite preparations through our Facebook page.

PICKLED TURNIPS

From Chef Julia Doran at Tiny Champions!

This recipe can be used for other root vegetables, such as beets, carrots, and radishes.

Ingredients

  • Root veg: turnips, radishes, carrots, or beets

  • Alliums: Onions, garlic, green onion, spring onion

  • Herbs: thyme, rosemary, oregano, dill, bay leaf

  • Spices: Cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, fennel seed, black pepper, dill seed

  • 3.5% Salt

Instructions

  • Find the weight of vessel you will be fermenting in – write down. Wash vegetables and prep – peel, chop into roughly 1/2-3/4″ pieces. Add selected chopped root vegetables, alliums, herbs, and spices to vessel. Fill vessel with filtered water to the top.

  • Take weight of ingredients in vessel, then subtract weight of vessel to find total weight of ingredients. Calculate 3.5% by multiplying weight by 0.035. This is the amount of salt to add.

  • Pour water out into a bowl and add salt, whisk thoroughly to dissolve. Pour back over root vegetables, make sure brine is covering everything.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and some kind of weight, then a lid. Write contents and date.
  • Ferment to your liking, but no less than 4 days so that it reaches proper pH. Check ferment each day to make sure no nasty mold is growing. Once complete, store in fridge to slow fermentation.

MISO-BUTTER TURNIPS & GREENS

From “The Vegetable Butcher” cookbook by Cara Mangini — HIGHLY RECOMMENDED COOKBOOK!

“Miso, butter, and turnips and their greens are something special together — sweet, spicy, and buttery magic. Serve them alone or with a bowl of steamed rice. With out without accompaniment, these glazed turnips make a dish you will crave on autumn nights.” – Cara Mangini

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

  • 1 1/2 pounds of turnips and greens (separated, stemmed, and cut into 1-inch pieces; roots cut into 3/4-inch wedges)

  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons mirin

  • 2 tablespoons white miso

  • Steamed white rice

Instructions

  • Melt the butter in a deep saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the turnips and the 1/4 teaspoon of salt, stir to coat, then cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to turn golden, about 3 minutes. Add the mirin (it will foam) and cook for 1 minute more.

  • Reduce the heat to medium and add the greens. As they begin to wilt, stir to incorporate them. Cook, stirring, until wilted and tender, 1 minute.
  • Push the turnips and greens to the side of the pan to make room in the center. Add the miso and 1/4 cup of water to the center of the pan, stir to break up the miso, then stir the miso mixture into the turnip mixture to coat evenly. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the turnip roots are tender, golden, and glazed, 3 minutes. Season with more salt to taste. Serve over rice if desired.

Note: Miso is a Japanese fermented bean paste with a tangy-salty “umami” flavor. It comes in a variety of styles, the most basic being white, yellow, and red; the white is the mildest and least salty of the bunch. It can be found in the Asian foods aisle of most supermarkets. – Cara Mangini

Sweet & Buttery Turnips

From Allrecipes by Bunkydarl

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs of turnips peeled and cubed

  • 1/2 cup of butter

  • 1 cup of sour creme

  • 1 cup of half and half creme

  • 1 cup of brown sugar

  • 1 pinch of nutmeg

  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Place turnips into saucepan and fill with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. Add butter to the hot turnips and mash with a potato masher or whisk. Once the butter has melted in, stir in the sour cream, half-and-half, brown sugar, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mash to your desired consistency. I always undermash for a chunkier outcome. Cover and keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.

Note: You can cut back the amount of sugar, creme, and butter or use alternatives to better suit dietary needs.

Creamed Turnips & Greens

From Yummly by Eating Well

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 clove of garlic

  • 1 lb of turnips

  • 4 cups of turnip greens

  • 1/2 cup of water

  • 1 tablespoon of lemon zest

  • 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour

  • 1/2 cup of milk

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • pepper to taste (recommended white pepper)

Instructions

  • Heat oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add turnips, water, lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until barely tender, about 10 minutes.

  • Add greens and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the turnips are very tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add more water, 1/4 cup at a time, if the greens begin to stick before the turnips are tender.

  • Sprinkle the vegetables with flour, increase heat to medium and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add milk, nutmeg, white pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve topped with the reserved lemon zest.

Note: You can cut back the amount of sugar, creme, and butter or use alternatives to better suit dietary needs.

“No Love” Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

From Food Fidelity by Marwin Brown 

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of quinoa

  • 2 cups of water

  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil

  • 1 bunch of turnip greens finely chopped

  • 2 cups of finely fresh cut flat-leaf parsley

  • 1/4 cup of finely copped mint

  • 8-10 cherry tomatoes

  • 1/2 seedless cucumber chopped into 1/4-inch sized pieces

  • 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

  • 3/4 teaspoons salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

  • Pour the quinoa into a fine mesh colander and rinse under running water for at least 30 seconds. Drain well.

  • Combine the rinsed quinoa and water in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then decrease the heat, cover, and simmer.

  • Cook until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water, about 10 to 20 minutes.

  • Remove the pot and let the quinoa steam for 5 minutes. This step gives the quinoa time to pop open into little curlicues, so it’s nice and fluffy.

  • Remove the lid and fluff the quinoa with a fork.
    Transfer quinoa to a bowl and toss with remaining ingredients until combined well.

Note: You can cut back the amount of sugar, creme, and butter or use alternatives to better suit dietary needs.

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