I’ve only been exposed to these things a few times in my life,but after reading some articles,I see they can be served varying ways (candied,etc.) that should ** probably ** cut down on the bitterness I remembered on my first gagging exposure to them.It was in the Navy and I thought they were mashed sweet potatoes so I took a big bite first time (I love sweets).
The 2nd time I was exposed to them they were rutabagas and they seemed milder,tho not entirely mouthwatering.
I’m always looking for new vegetables to add to my somewhat limited selection,so I’m turning to the board for a couple of questions,not of the IMO type.
Why should I add these roots to my diet?Do they take the place of a potato/rice as a starch/gravy holder,or like a beet,use it as a vegetable.
Would they be as good a source of vitamins,like carrots or broccoli, (IMO standalone sides with a starch and meat to complete a meal)or should you serve them with something else to compliment the vitamin/amino acid combination ala rice and beans?
Thanks for any nutritional help (I can google for recipes aplenty)
If they taste bad, they’re overcooked. They are almost purely bland. In canapes, they can substitute for a cracker (raw.) I grew them one year, and after many attempts to make them interesting, I gave up. You should not have to try that hard to make a food taste good. Phooey! I’m told the greens are not bad, cooked, but what a waste, if that huge root is so dull.
Young turnips make entertaining practice golf balls. (Wear safety glasses.)
Okay. If you insist on preparing the (snort) white part, make a sauce out of it in a blender, spice it up with some pepper and stuff and then get some roast beef and throw the sauce out the backdoor and have a roast beef sandwich with fried greens and sliced boiled eggs soaked in tabasco sauce and vinegar.
I’m a farm boy, born and raised. I have eaten turnip greens my whole life. They are good for you and taste good too. I don’t like the bottom part of the turnip, as far as I’m concerned, it’s hog food. But some people like.
I’m confused. I thought ‘turnip’ and ‘rutabaga’ were just other words for what the English call ‘swede’. (Merriam-Webster kinda agree, they claim that turnip is either of Brassica rapa rapifera or Brassica napus napobrassica, the latter sometimes called ‘rutabaga’.)
They are both parts of the amazing cabbage family.
They contains some vitamin C (25mg/100g), but as it’s (normally) cooked for some time, most of the vitamins are lost.
Raw (uncooked) turnips with a light sprinkling of salt are good eating. Be sure they are peeled first. Also the smaller ones are best, as they get bitter and/or hot when larger.
Turnip greens, first steamed to wilt them down to a compact form, then re-cooked in a skilled with bacon drippings and served with balsamic vinegar or similar condiment makes for fine eating.
I’m truly amazed, I really am. Heres me thinking you Americans existed on a diet of huge sirloin steaks when all the time you have been scarfing great helpings of turnips down your gobs.
Well I’ll go to the foot of our stairs, as we say in Blighty, and stand pissing glass.
Armenian-style (pickled) turnip is quite good…I thought they were pickled beets (they pickle them in beet juiceand vinegar).But I don’t like mashed turnip-too bitter!
The greens are great steamed, boiled, or sauteed, although they sure do stink up the place so have some candles and your overhead fan ready.
The root tastes great raw, and just last night Mr. Winnie roasted a chicken and laid some cut up turnips and carrots in the roaster so it all cooked together. YUMMMMM!!!
Don’t listen to those the-only-way-to-eat-em-is-to-mush-em-up types.
Take a medium-sized turnip, and peel it.
Lay it on its side and cut slits in it about 3/4 of the way through. Each segment between the slits should be just under 1/4 inch thick. (If it’s too tough, microwave it for about 15 seconds.)
In each slit, place some thinly-sliced onion, and some butter.
Salt and pepper the top.
Wrap in aluminum foil and put on the BBQ on high, with the lid closed. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, turning 1/4 turn every 3-5 minutes.
Test for done-ness by pressing through the foil with the flat of a fork. It should “give” a little without mushing.
Enjoy.
(I never liked turnips until I tried them this way.)
Fold one part mashed rutabaga into two parts mashed potato to give the potatoes a kick without the overpowering flavor of rutabaga. Yum. The difference between a turnip and a rutabaga:
