Salad Turnips

Salad Turnips are heading to your shares this week. Here’s a bit of info about them.

Salad Turnips are a great raw-eating turnip; eat like you would a radish. They have a very different texture and taste from your typical purple-shouldered, long-keeping winter turnips. Salad turnips are about the size of an extra-large radish.

Storage: When you get your turnips home, remove the greens if they are still attached. Store the greens in a dry plastic bag in the fridge for up to 5 days. Store the roots in a separate dry plastic bag in the fridge for up to 1-2 weeks. These turnips are not a storage variety, so they will not keep for months in your fridge (although you could certainly try…)

To Use:

• Raw: salad turnips are so sweet that they can be eaten raw. Julienne them into matchsticks and add them to a vegetable tray and dip with your favorite dip or hummus. Or slice them into your green salads.
• Pickle or ferment: Turnips can be pickled and fermented but still retain a refreshing crunch. Just swap turnips into your favorite cucumber or carrot pickle recipe or add them to your next homemade batch of kimchi.
• Roasted: Like all root vegetables, turnips really shine when they are roasted. Toss with olive oil, garlic, or ginger, your favorite spices, and you’re in for a treat!
• Braised: Turnips are great for braising. They absorb the flavorful braising liquid, mellow out, and become sweet and juicy. Add them into your next veggie stew.
• Grilled: Toss whole or halved turnips with some oil or butter, then throw onto the grill until some nice grill marks appear.
• The greens: The spicy greens of the turnip plant are tender, peppery, and so good to eat. You can add them raw to salads and sandwiches. Stir-fry or sauté the tops or blanch the greens and blend them with some garlic, nuts, and cheese to make a lightly spicy pesto. Tops can also be wilted into pasta dishes, risotto, or even soups (think gumbo). Basically, anywhere you’d use spinach or kale, you can use turnip greens.