Turnip Sauté

When summer is well and truly gone for the year and cold sinks in to stay, we start making loads of cozy food out of all of the root vegetables still coming in out of the field.

This is one of our favorite recipes—a warm vinegary turnip sauté—because it’s delicious and because it uses the whole vegetable. We’re huge proponents of no waste farming AND cooking here at CHF and this recipe certainly honors those philosophies.

Ingredients

1 lb (about 3-4 medium/lg) purple top turnips
1 medium onion (yellow, white, or sweet), rough chopped
1 Tbsp minced or roughly chopped garlic
2 Tbsp honey (we used CHF honey)
3 Tbsp Dark Malt Vinegar (we used MadHouse Dark Malt Vinegar)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp bacon grease (optional)
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Remove the greens/tops from the roots. Set aside.

Cut root end from turnips, then peel knobs. Cut into ½” cubes.

In a mixing bowl, combine honey, 2 Tbsp vinegar and olive oil. Toss turnip cubes in mixture, and spread on sheet pan (line with foil, parchment paper or a silpat to prevent sticking and to simplify clean up) in a single layer, reserving sauce. Bake at 425 for 25-50 minutes, or until just starting to crisp.

Strip the greens from the stems, and chop coarsely. Toss in remaining sauce. Heat a sauté pan with the bacon grease, or a little more olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until soft. Add the greens, additional tablespoon of vinegar, and remaining sauce and sauté until greens wilt and begin to crisp.

When root cubes are done, remove from oven and toss with the greens to serve. Add salt and pepper to taste.