spiced turnips

Making Turnips a new way

Along with making my Cracked Wheat Bread today, I search through my vegetables cookbooks looking for something to do with the turnips I have on hand, besides mashing them with potatoes. We been eating more vegetables, and not so much white starch – no white potatoes, white bread, white rice. Yes, for health reasons for us both.

In my copy of the Farmers Market Cookbook, I found Spiced Turnips. Sounded interesting, and different. Just what I was looking for.

The recipe is quite easy, though it does involve some time standing at the stove to saute the apples and turnips in separate stages. Easy enough though while the chicken is in the oven, and it really took 30 minutes or less. The turnips end up sweet and salty but slightly spicy, with the small bite of the turnips coming through. This could also be done with a rutabaga, which would make it even more mild.

The original recipe calls for toasting whole mustard seeds, which I didn’t have. So I just used a bit of dry mustard alone with the other dry spices – allspice and coriander. There is also a bit of maple syrup or honey added at the end, which ends up making a lovely coating on the caramelized vegetables. If your sugar intake is restricted, use only half the amount – there’s enough to still make it work.

I think a bit of caramelized onion would be good to include next time. Maybe sweet potato too.

As is typical, I used my cast iron chicken deep skillet that lives on the top of my stove. Cast iron gets hot slowly, but holds heat readily and is wonderful for caramelizing food. And a chicken fryer is deep enough to hop food without it popping out as I stir.

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Spiced Turnips

Turnips turn sweet, salty and spice with the help of some dry spices and maple syrup

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword apple side dish, apples and turnips, rutabaga, sauteed vegetables, turnips, turnips with male syrup
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 5 people

Ingredients

  • ½ tsp dry mustard
  • ½ tsp allspice
  • ½ tsp coriander
  • 3 apples peeled and diced – about 4 cups
  • 1-2 turnips peeled and diced – about 4 cups
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup or honey
  • 1 tbsp parsley
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. In a large cast iron skillet over medium heat, add 1.5 tbsp of the oil (half) and put in the apple. Cook until they caramelize. Stir as needed to move pieces around. Add the spices and stir, then remove the apple to a bowl.
  2. Add the rest of the oil and then the turnip pieces. Cook, stirring, to caramelize the turnip, 5-6 minutes.
  3. Add the maple syrup, cook for a couple minutes, then return the apples to the pan. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Sprinkle over the parley, if desired.