Sesame Greens with Garlic Scapes

If you’ve used up your garlic scapes and can’t find more, garlic cloves would work fine. Also, this recipe is meant to use any greens you have around so spinach, kohlrabi greens, and kale can all be added or substituted for other greens.

1 bunch turnip greens
2 turnips or kohlrabi
1 bunch swiss chard
greens from 1 bunch of beets
4 garlic scapes
1/8 cup oil
2 Tbs. sesame oil
2 Tbs. sesame seeds
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1⁄4 tsp cayenne (opt.)

Chop greens, removing stems and chopping finely (they need more time to cook so if you want to use them you just have to start them earlier). Thinly slice turnips and cut scapes into 1 inch pieces.
In a wok or similar skillet, heat oil until hot and toss in turnips, scapes, and any stem pieces. Cook for 5 minutes. Add beet greens and tamari, cover and cook another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cayenne, sesame seeds, swiss chard, and turnip greens and cook until greens are wilted.

Turnip Puff

2 cups cooked, mashed turnips, cooled 
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs, separated

Combine turnips, bread crumbs, margarine, sugar, salt, pepper, and beaten egg yolks. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into turnip mixture.

Spoon turnip mixture into a buttered 1-quart casserole. Bake turnip puff at 350° for 40 minutes.

Roasted Turnips with Peanut Cilantro Sauce

From Sarah Voiland, 2010

Roasted turnips are good in and of themselves. Here’s a way to make them irresistible. I also think they are very good used like roasted beets in a salad with greens and feta cheese.

Chunks of any type of turnip or rutabaga
Olive oil to coat
Salt and pepper

Clean and top turnips, remove thicker skin areas, and chop into similar sized chunks. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 375 or 400 until soft to the tines of a fork, and starting to brown a little. While baking you can make up a container of the cilantro peanut sauce below and use it for dipping the roasted chunks or as a sauce poured over them.

Cilantro Peanut Sauce

This sauce is great on udon noodles, tofu, roasted turnips, fries, almost anything.

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey (or other sweetener)
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs cider or rice vinegar (or other light vinegar)
2 tbs lemon or lime juice
2-4 tbs olive oil
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tbs sesame oil (optional)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (optional) – or green garlic
1 tbs minced fresh ginger (optional, or a little ginger powder)
a little of your favorite spicing agent (cayenne powder, chili flakes)

Mix everything together. You can mix it in a pouring container or the container you’ll store leftovers in later. Add a little water to get desired consistency. Salt to taste.

When I do this I just stick some of each thing in and stir and taste it and then add more of things as needed, so if you want it more peanut buttery, you can add more, etc.

Raw Kale, Squash and Turnip Salad

2  zucchini or summer squash
1 bunch kale, chopped
2 med. Hakurei turnips, julienned
2 pearl onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup cider vinegar
3 Tbs. dill
1 Tbs. Maple syrup
salt to taste

Slice the squash lengthwise with a peeler and place the ribbons in a bowl.

Toss with turnips, salt and let sit and wilt while preparing the kale.

Salt the chopped kale and massage for 5-10 minutes until tender.

Add the kale to the squash and turnips, then toss with remaining ingredients.

Let marinate for an hour, stirring occasionally to coat the veggies with the vinegar. Add salt before serving if needed.

Dilly Slaw

4 cups shredded veggies (carrots, Hakurei turnips, radish, kohlrabi) 
5 scallions, chopped

Dressing:
3⁄4 cup yogurt or 1⁄2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs. lime juice
2 Tbs. cider vinegar
1 Tbs. honey
1⁄4 cup dill
1 tsp. salt
3 garlic scapes or cloves of garlic, minced

Blend dressing and toss with veggies. If time, let chill and stir occasionally so the dressing can soak into the veggies.

Hearty Asian Noodle Salad

From Jarrett Mann, 2006

1 cabbage, small or medium, shredded or chopped medium fine
2 lb. Grated carrot
1 or 2 grated turnips or daikon
A full bulb garlic, minced or pressed
a large finger sized chunk of ginger, finely grated or minced
4 Tbsp. Sesame oil
3 Tbsp. Rice Vinegar
¼ cup raw or toasted sesame seeds
3-5 cups cooked pasta
2/3 cup soy sauce

The best part about this recipe is that it can be assembled in any order. It requires kind of a large bowl, of course you could always half the recipe (or double it!). The roots do not need to be peeled, only washed.

Cook the pasta until al dente, then strain and rinse thoroughly with cold water before adding to the bowl. The pasta can be of any variety, I have used spaghetti and ziti before: if you use spaghetti cut it up a bit first, so the strands are not so long. I think ginger is best grated through the small side of a cheese grater.

Everything else gets added whenever you want, toss thoroughly and serve chilled or room temp. For added flair, either serve on top of a bed of spinach or mix spinach right in. Try serving it at Thanksgiving, everyone seems to like it.