Turnip Head

This post is dedicated to Charlie Pace, the former member of Drive Shaft...and a fictional character from the TV show Lost. Every time I hear the word "turnip", I immediately think of Charlie, and how he always referred to Claire's baby as "turnip head". Sigh. There have been few TV show characters that have brought me to tears, and I'm not sure why I got so attached to him. Was it because he was a musician? Reformed bad boy? I "lost" it during this scene:

NOT PENNY'S BOAT

Poor turnip head would never have anyone call him by that name again! The only other TV character I grew attached to was Dr. Mark Greene from ER. Why did he have to die so dramatically? For a while after the episode of with his death, I would start to tear up when I heard Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole's version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". So lame. Anyway, I digress...

Have you ever had any meal with turnips? My husband and I racked our brains and couldn't remember ever eating one. Cookbooks were no help - there were hardly any recipes in the index under turnips, and the ones that did exist didn't sound too appetizing (i.e. our experience with braised radishes - not in the mood to braise any other vegetables any time soon). What do you do with a bunch of turnips. One bunch = 3 medium sized turnips. Not really enough for a full meal/side dish. What can you make with 3 turnips? How about mashed turnips? Sounds easy enough (and it was)!

Mashed Turnips

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch turnips
• 1 Tbl butter
• ground nutmeg, ground cloves, salt, and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Peel turnips and chop into large pieces.

2. Bowl water in a medium pot. Add turnips when boiling, and cook until tender, 10-15 minutes. Drain and return turnips to pot. Remove from heat.

3. Add butter. With a fork, mashed the turnips. Add seasonings, to taste.

We really didn't have much to eat of the mashed turnips, since our bunch was so small. It tasted really great. Next time, I'd make a gratin with other root vegetables.

CSA Week #3 & Kale Chips

The theme of this week's recipes is freezer-friendly or simple recipes that use few ingredients. Here's what I picked up on this rainy day from the farmer's market:

Other options at the CSA included lettuce, swiss chard, easter egg radishes, broccoli, and kohlrabi. What the heck is kohlrabi? I am hoping it will be around in 2 weeks so that I can try it out. Next week, I will sadly (ok, maybe not so sadly!) be on vacation, so there will be no CSA pick up to blog about.

Tonight, the kale was turned into kale chips, one of our go-to recipes. It's very simple and quick....it takes longer to make the kale chips than to eat them. They always seem to disappear approximately 30 seconds after they come out of the oven.

Kale Chips

Ingredients:

• kale
• olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 ºF. Wash and dry the kale thoroughly. If using full bunches of kale, tear or chop the kale into smaller pieces, making sure to remove the stems completely.

2. Place kale on a baking sheet. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Drizzle with olive oil. Mix until kale is evenly coated.

3. Bake kale in oven for 20-30 minutes, until crispy. 

This recipe is very simple and requires only a few ingredients that are staples in most kitchens. It meets the requirements of an easy meal! Kale chips can be served with anything - burgers, baked chicken, soup, or by themselves. It's an easy, delicious, and healthy snack, too. Kale chips don't store very well...but they also seem to get eaten very quickly, so storage shouldn't be a huge problem. Just eat them all, you know you want to!