One of the reasons I garden is to provide my family with as much of our own food as possible. There is a certain pride in being able to point to a dish and say “I grew AND cooked that”. It occurred to me that if I wanted to grow entire meals, I would have to go vegan (because there aren’t bacon plants – though I think Monsanto might be working on them). To that end, I’ve collected some recipes from the Internet (and beyond) that I can totally produce from my produce (minus oils, sauces, spices and salt). As the season progresses and I can make dishes and whole meals from my garden, SG will blog about it.
The Snarky Gardener overwintered Seven Top turnip greens and they have really came back like gangbusters (or is it ghostbusters?) this spring. I’m not really a turnip green lover, but they are nutritious and easy to grow. Seven Top turnips are grown just for their greens, as the roots are not really edible (not that I have tried). Of course by letting them go over winter, the first thing they want to do is go to seed (thus the definition of “bi-annual”). I figured these greens would be bitter as plants who bolt tend to get that way. But a trial munch found them to be better than they were last summer as the cool weather must be what they like. So I decided to make sauteed turnip greens with this spring bounty.
I found an online recipe with just a quick search. This one is common and can be used with other greens (spinach, kale, collard). Most turnip green recipes include bacon or salted pork as a component because turnip greens tend to be bitter (supposedly because of their calcium content if you believe the Internet) and bacon makes everything taste better. This recipe is vegan (no pork) but it suggests using balsamic vinegar or soy sauce which do taste good with bitter dishes (went with the vinegar this time). The garlic I used for this did not come from my garden (not ready until July), but it was from the local farmer’s market, so close enough for now.
1. Coat the bottom of a wok or skillet with high-heat vegetable oil (canola or peanut but not olive oil) and heat over medium heat.
2. Peel and mince 2 garlic cloves and saute in the oil until lightly browned.
3. Add ½ lb. turnip greens, rinsed and with the stems removed.
4. Cook greens, turning them gently, until they darken and become limp.
5. Season with salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of either soy sauce or balsamic vinegar.
