How to Enjoy Bunched Turnips

Cut the stems off leaving the leaves intact. Fill a deep basin with water, immerse leaves and after gentle agitation, allow to rest undisturbed for about 5 minutes. Scoop out leaves, drain and coarsely chop. Wash and trim the turnip root, but you don't need to peel them. For each bunch of turnips, use 1 tbsp. each of butter and olive oil. Heat in a large heavy skillet. Sauté the sliced bottoms about 1 1/2-2 minutes. Add the coarsely chopped greens, stirring constantly until all the green are wilted and turn dark green. Serve at once; these need no further seasoning.

Our “Snow White” Turnips need not be peeled and may be eaten raw or cooked: shred or julienne turnips into salads or soups. Thinly slice Turnips and sauté in just a bit of butter and olive oil or roast with meats and other vegetables. My sister and I eat Snow White Turnips like apples. You may wish to cut turnips into sticks and serve with dip or instead of celery alongside some Buffalo wings. Creamy white turnip bottoms are a low-carb substitute for potatoes in chowders and stews. To bring out their sweetness, bake them alongside a chicken or roast. Colza oil, pressed from the seeds of Indian Turnips, was imported to fill the lamps of Europe from the thirteenth century until replaced by whale oil. The Romans, familiar with this edible root crop, were said to prefer it to the carrot. Through the Middle Ages, the turnip was considered a modest staple. Thus, turnips on an English coat-of-arms indicate the family as a benefactor of the poor. In colonial Massachusetts, a bushel of turnips would buy a cord of oak firewood and the enthusiastic Thomas Jefferson grew ten varieties! We grow a pure white Asian variety with mild spicy greens.