An Ode to the Turnip
I am doing my best to cook in season. Apparently from what I have read, eating in season is more important than we realize. I recently wrote a blog post about all the benefits of eating locally here.
I have been looking through the various charts for what is in season in B.C. right now and what I am finding is a bunch of vegetables that you rarely hear about anymore. Here is a list:
Veggies: Beans (dried), beets, cabbage (green & red), cucumbers, garlic (dried), kale, leeks, onions (red & yellow), parsnips, potatoes, rutabagas, shallots, squash (winter), turnips (white)
I am sure there is more to this list but these are not the typical vegetables you see at the average dinner table. There are two on this list that I had never cooked before that now will definitely be part of our diet. The two veggies were red cabbage and turnips. I cooked red cabbage in my last post and now…
Please welcome to the food menu, the mighty turnip. Turnips have a very bad reputation of being a vegetable that makes children cry and adults cringe (probably from bad memories as a kid). In the short time I have discussed the turnip with friends, stories have arisen about the great harbinger of childhood doom, that menacing cloud that loomed over the dinner table overshadowing anything tasty on the plate. One friend talked about her sister who was forced to eat turnip soup until eventually the taste was so bad she chucked her guts. I think that the only thing we have been grateful for in the turnip is the very important link it provides between “lettuce- turnip- and pea”, providing us with hours of laughter and fun.
The turnip has a long history with mankind. It is one of the oldest cultivated foods. Some 5000 years ago—“turnips probably sustained early foraging peoples long before the principles of cultivation were understood”. There are even ancient caves in China that have produced evidence of prehistoric man, eating raw turnips–and, later, with the harnessing of fire, eating roasted turnips. There are even ancient caves in France that are decorated with paintings that show turnips being boiled in clay pots. And don’t forget the story called “The Turnip” by the Brothers Grimm where the turnip is the main character in a tale of greed nobility and justice.
So what are the nutritional benefits of eating this lone vegetable?
“Turnips are a “starch” vegetable, but provide only one third the amount of calories as an equal amount of potatoes. Turnips provide an excellent source of vitamin C, fiber, folic acid, manganese, pantothenic acid, and copper. They also offer a very good source of thiamine, potassium, niacin, and magnesium. In addition, they are a good source of vitamin B6 and E, folic acid, and riboflavin”.
Having done all the research, I am convinced…I will embrace this long suffering vegetable and be committed to telling others about it.
I made the most delicious turnip recipe imaginable. I was actually shocked when I took a bite at just how tasty and delicious it was. It is a mixture of a few recipes that I put together and now I just need to come up with a brilliant name for the recipe. Let me know if you think of one. Here it is.
Tantalizing Turnips- makes 8 servings
2 cups water
2 cubes vegetable bouillon
6 cups of peeled and cubed turnips
½ cup of finely chopped onion
4 clove of minced garlic
1 cup of sharp white cheddar cheese grated
3 tbs sour cream
Salt and pepper to taste
chopped chives or parsley for on top
Directions
Put water and bouillon in a pot and boil until it is dissolved over high heat (about 1 min). Put turnips, onion, garlic in the pot and continue cooking on medium until the turnips are tender, about 10-15 min. The water should be mostly evaporated by this point.
When the turnips are done, gently stir in the sour cream coating all of the turnips. Sprinkle with grated cheese, pepper and salt to taste and some chopped chives or parsley.
Get ready to enjoy an amazing turnip side dish!
8 Responses to “An Ode to the Turnip”
Leave a Reply
Secured by
Thought I’d share that if you assume this recipe makes 4 servings, it has 200 calories per serving,
11.4 g of fat
7.2 g saturated fat
34 mg cholesterol
611 mg sodium
15.5g carbohydrates
3.3g fiber
9.4g protein
7% of your RDA of Vitamin A
29% of your RDA of Calcium
71% of your RDA of Vitamin C
and 5% of your RDA of Iron.
Not bad at all! I was really amazed at how much vitamin C!
You too can find out all this information for your recipes here:
http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
It makes 8 servings…I will plug into the calorie counting machine!!
Love the stacked picture, reminds me of stacked rocks. Thanks for the mac and cheese last night, you are a rockin chef!!
thanks
Turnips have always had a bit of humble place in the vegetable kingdom but they were elevated in my rank when I was recently converted. So simple, peeled, sliced boiled, allowed to cool, then marinade under oilive oil and rosemary. That’s it. So good
I am definitely going to try that!!!!
I’m pretty skeptical, I had a childhood trauma. But since there is sour cream and cheese, I will consider it.
[...] I kind of feel like I should maybe broaden my horizons and try something new, too? Like maybe this? (Come on — they’re tantalizing!) [...]