Purple Top Turnips?  Help!
By: Jameson Fink
Published: May 13, 2010

Update: Thanks to Laura at Hey What's For Dinner Mom? for pointing out that these are some sad turnips.  See what happens when I get adventurous at the market?  The ones I brought home look a lot better, but I did pick through some questionable ones. Will seek out the small and tender next time!  I replaced the photo so more people who know turnips won't recoil in horror!
For every trip I make to my weekly farmers market, I like to find something that I am unfamiliar with and challenge myself to find a way to cook it.  I have never cooked with turnips before, so I snatched these up and decided to worry about what I would do with them later.
Naturally when I got home, the first thing I did was turn to fair Foodista for guidance.  I searched for turnips, filtering for recipes (443 of 'em!).  Below are widgets that link to the recipes I am most likely to use.  Raw or roasted?  Maybe I'll try both!
Pickled Turnips
Roasted Purple White Top Turnip With Garden Thyme
So what do you do with turnips?  And have you brought home a vegetable recently you had no idea how to prepare?  (How did that work out for you?)


Jameson Fink is a wine buyer at a bustling grocery store in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. He moved to Seattle from Chicago (where he dabbled in the restaurant and wine industries) five years ago to pursue a full-time career in wine. He’d rather be drinking Champagne and eating popcorn right now.

Comments:
laura
May 13, 2010

Hi Alaska Master Gardener here-those look like some sad purple globe turnips. Have you ever eaten them before at all?
They look old and woody so don't judge turnips by these. Wait to get some small fresh turnips w/o lumps bumps and what look like root maggot burrow holes.
If you are determined to eat these I'm afraid you just won't like them anyway you go.
I love turnips but once they pass the small fresh or big fresh stage I don't bother b/c they'll be woody. Good luck.
laura

Ahahahaha that's funny! I DID recoil in horror though. So did you eat them? I love them peeled sliced and salted. That's it!
Thanks for being good natured and I hope you find a turnip that is firm to the tooth, but soft.