11.28.2007

what to do with a crisper full of turnips

"It was as true... as turnips is. It was as true... as taxes is. And nothing's truer than them." - Charles Dickens

As you may remember from the Halloween Turnip entry, my mother brought me loads of turnips a month ago. Turnips keep practically indefinitely, so I have been slowly working my way through a very full crisper.

At first I tried to highlight the flavor of the turnips:

Pickled Turnips (pictured in the upper left), which, after keeping in the fridge for a while, tenderized nicely. Their sort of daikony taste went really well with the veggie fried rice!

And then:

Apple-Turnip Bake

This highlighted the flavor of the turnips a little too well, and my roommate and I decided we were turnipped out.

But our crisper wasn't.

So I threw them into my favorite kind of soup, figuring it would warm me to turnips again:

BORSCHT!

I never use a recipe for borscht, but sometime I'll bother to notice the amounts I use and will give it to you. After this meal, I was okay with turnips again, especially because I was down to the LAST TWO POUNDS!

So I made:

Mashed Turnips with Orange Sauce

2 pounds turnips (about 5-6 turnips, depending on size)
2 TB Brown Sugar
1 TB Earth Balance (or other vegan "butter")
1 1/2 cups Orange Juice
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Orange

Peel turnips and cut into cubes. Boil for 20 minutes until they are soft. Drain, mash.

While the turnips are boiling away, combine the sugar, butter, OJ, and salt in a small saucepan. Stir frequently over medium heat until smooth.

Stir the sauce into the mashed turnips, put into baking pan. Top with orange slices. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.


It was really tasty. And pretty. And this dish has renewed my faith in the humble turnip.

And now Mish and I have sworn off turnips for... MONTHS. But the moral of this story is that if you are looking for a vegetable that keeps well and can be used in many different dishes, the turnip is your man. Er, veggie.

Oh and they age amusingly, too! I leave you now with the dried, withered, more life-like version of my oogie boogie halloween turnip:

I keep him on top of the fridge.

5 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said... Best Blogger Tips

wow, the Mashed Turnips with Orange Sauce, Apple-Turnip Bake, and Turnips with Vegetable-Fried Rice look quite intriguing - I've never had turnip before, but you've convinced me to try them soon!! :0)

Rural Vegan said... Best Blogger Tips

I've made mashed turnips before when I was overrun with them, but adding an orange sauce sounds like a great idea. I'll have to try that when I end up with a crisper full again next year. Oogie Boogie, yay!!

Ashasarala said... Best Blogger Tips

I can honestly say I've never had a turnip before. Then again, I can honestly say I've never had a lot of veggies before. I'm such a bad vegan!

Oh, and isn't borscht great?

In any even, oogie boogie is awesome!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said... Best Blogger Tips

Thanks to you, I decided I need to try some new fruits (not durian, though! Never again!). I bought a starfruit yesterday-- it certainly LOOKS pretty!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

we don't eat much in the way of turnips at our house...but they are great in a veggie soup, and growing up my mother always made mashed carrot & turnip. that's one dish that can ALWAYS be found at any thanksgiving/xmas celebration with my family.