Photo of hakurei turnips from Glade Road Growing. The June 17 farm share is slated to include summer squash, turnips, bok choy, carrots, parsley, bunch onions, spinach, and sugar peas.
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Hakurei turnips are crisp and a bit sweet. You can eat them just about any way: raw, roasted, pickled, steamed, sauteed, glazed, candied, in soups and roasted. The greens are edible raw or cooked and taste similar to mustard greens. There's no need to peel the turnips, just trim the root end (which can saved and used in making a veggie stock.) The globes keep well in the fridge in a sealed glass container, if you separate the greens and store them separately.
I thought I'd give you a recipe for a simple salad with an oriental flair, since these turnips were first developed in Japan during the 1950s. The photo is from Elly Says Opa on Flckr. I've adapted her 2011 recipe below.
At the bottom of this page, I've linked to some recipes from last year the bok choy and for the carrots and summer squash.
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Serves 4
1. Thinly slice 1 medium cucumber and 4 hakurei turnip globes. Sprinkle with salt and place in colander and let drain for about 20 minutes to remove the excess moisture.
2. Lightly oil a small cast iron skillet and heat on stove until a drop of water sprinkled evaporates. Add a thin layer of sesame seeds and toast until they start to pop. Transfer to a glass jar and cool before you screw on the lid for storage.
3. Grate or finely mince 1/2 t fresh ginger
4. Wash, drain and chop 4 T fresh parsley. (You can ensure that the parsley stays fresh for as long as possible by removing all the leaflets from the stems and storing in an inverted wide-mouth mason jar towards the front of the fridge.)
5. In a pint jar combine ginger with:
1 1/2 T balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. demerara sugar
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. miso paste
6. Transfer cucumbers and turnips to a serving bowl or 4 individual salad bowls.Pour the vinaigrette over the cucumbers and turnips and toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
7. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and chopped parsley, keeping any extra for other recipes.
To make this a main meal, you can toss in 1/2 cups of cooked beans or feta cheese and 1/3 cup of walnuts. You can serve over a bed of fresh spinach or cooked quinoa or toss with 2 cups of cooked wheat berries.
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Additional recipes for this week's farm share:
Bok Choy Slaw
Tzatziki with Carrots and Summer Squash
