Tag Archives: turnips

Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Delightful Creamy Side Dish is a Winner!

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I think turnips are making a comeback. More and more, I’m seeing them used on cooking shows and in new and exciting ways. I started using them several years ago as a potato substitute, then as an alternate to rice. They are best when used fresh, but they do keep for several weeks in the refrigerator. If they have greens attached, remove them before you store them. They tend to get a fibrous layer the longer they sit. Peel the turnips and cut this layer off if you encounter it.

Parsnips are also being used more often. They are a little higher in carbs than turnips, but with the turnips, they are still much lower than an equal amount of potatoes.

This dish is my own recipe, and it is absolutely delicious. I made a much larger version to take to a potluck dinner, but it sat too long in the crockpot and the cream separated. So, if you think about doing that, cook it right before you go and just keep it warm in the pot until served. It still tasted good, but not as pretty. The little bit of sugar in it sweetens the turnips and masks any bitterness.

The recipe makes about three servings. You can easily double it to make six. To make this vegetarian, omit the bacon and swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth or just use water. The broth adds a little more flavor, but isn’t required. For the low carb flour, you can use Carbquik, DCC All Purpose Flour, or possibly coconut flour. I haven’t tried it with coconut flour, but since it absorbs liquid, you would only need 1/2 tablespoon to make the paste. If it is too thick, add a little water.

Turnips and Parsnips with Bacon and Cream Sauce

Rene’s recipe

1 7″ Parsnip, peeled and sliced
1 medium Turnip, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup Green Onions
1/4 cup Bacon pieces (about 2 slices)
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon Butter
1 tablespoon Low Carb Flour
2 tablespoon Chicken Broth
1/4 cup Heavy Cream
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Sugar Substitute
2 teaspoons Garlic and Herb Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste (optional)

Cook 2 slices of bacon and break into pieces or use precooked bacon.

Put the parsnips and turnips in a pan of boiling water and cook for about 15 minutes until they are fork tender. Or put them in a microwaveable bowl and cook for two minutes on high.

In a medium-sized skillet, melt butter and stir in low carb flour to form a paste. Add heavy cream and chicken broth and stir until it begins to thicken.  Add seasonings and sugar substitute, then add in parsnips and turnips. Cook for about 15 minutes until the sauce thickens.

Add bacon pieces and stir a few minutes until heated. Then add green onions and Parmesan cheese. Cook another minute or two to melt the cheese.

Serves 3.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories 234 , Total Fat 17g , Cholesterol 65mg, Sodium 776mg, Potassium 201mg, Carbohydrates 8.5g, Fiber 2.5g, Sugars 3.3g, Protein 13g, Net Carbs 6.0g

If you make this, please let me know how you liked it.

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. Although they are a close calculation, your results may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.

Main Dish, Pork, Poultry, Recipes

Comfort food for cold nights…

photo: ham and cabbage casserole

Here’s a comfort-food recipe to warm cold nights with a delicious and low carb meal. I adapted this and the alternate recipe below for  low carb/Keto meals. The original called for frozen hash browns, which I replaced with grated turnips. You could also use chopped cauliflower as a substitute.

Low carb flour and baking mix will work as a thickener, but it sometimes takes more cooking or a little more flour to get the sauce to thicken. If you don’t have a gluten allergy, you can replace a tablespoon of the low carb flour with gluten flour to get the elasticity needed to thicken the roux. You can also use a tablespoon of corn starch, but that will add a little to the carbs. Coconut flour and other nut flours don’t work since they don’t have gluten.

Ham and Cabbage Casserole

1 cup chopped or cubed Ham
3/4 cup shredded Turnips
2-1/2 tablespoons unsalted Butter, divided
3/4 cup chopped Onions
2-1/2 cups chopped Cabbage
½ cup shredded Carrots
1-1/2 tablespoons Low Carb all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Mustard
1/2 teaspoon White Pepper
1 cups Cream
1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
2 slices Bacon Strips, cooked and crumbled

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or use cooking spray on an 8×8-inch baking dish.

Prepare all vegetables and shredded cheese before starting to cook. It will make the timing so much easier.

Spread chopped ham evenly on the bottom of the baking dish.

Set shredded turnips onto a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high power for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Set aside.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter, add onions, and cook until they start to turn clear, about 3 minutes. Add chopped cabbage and continue to cook and stir until cabbage starts to wilts, about 4 minutes. Add shredded carrots and microwaved turnips and stir to mix well. Spread the mixture over the ham in the baking dish.

Use a paper towel to wipe out the skillet then melt the remaining 1-1/2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. In a small bowl, combine low-carb flour, salt, and white pepper. Add a little garlic powder if you like. Sprinkle flour and seasonings over the melted butter and stir until the flour and butter make a paste and the mixture is bubbly. Cook for 1 minute while stirring.

Gradually pour in cream and stir to break down any lumps. Stir in mustard. Still stirring, continue to cook, until the mixture thickens. If the mixture is too thick, stir in an additional 2 tablespoons cream. Remove from heat.

Add half of the grated Cheddar cheese and stir until it is melted, then add the remaining half and stir. Pour cheese sauce over the casserole and top with crumbled bacon.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes until the top is bubbly and brown. Let sit a few minutes to set, then serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Alternate recipe. This one is almost identical but doesn’t use a cream roux and cooks in a skillet. I didn’t include the bacon pieces in this one, but you can without adding any carbs.

Skillet Cabbage and Sausage with Cheese

photo: skillet sausage and cabbage

1 lb. Sausage Links, cut into 1/2 inch slices.
3/4 cup shredded Turnips
1 tablespoons unsalted Butter, divided
3/4 cup chopped Onions
2-1/2 cups chopped Cabbage
½ cup shredded Carrots
1 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
1/2 teaspoon White Pepper
1/2 cup grated Sharp Cheddar cheese

Prepare all vegetables and shredded cheese before starting to cook. It will make the timing so much easier.

Set shredded turnips onto a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high power for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Set aside.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter, add onions, and cook until they start to turn clear, about 3 minutes. Add chopped cabbage and continue to cook and stir until cabbage starts to wilt, about 4 minutes. Add shredded carrots and microwaved turnips and stir to mix well. Add the sausage and reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Add shredded cheese and cook another 3 or 4 minutes until the cheese melts.

Serve with a side salad and/or low carb toast or biscuit.

Nutrition - skillet sausage & cabbage

Beef, Soups and Stews

Guinness Pot Roast is Grand

Photo: Pot Roast in Guinness broth

When you think of St. Patrick’s Day, your first thought probably isn’t a pot roast.  In many ways, it is similar to an Irish stew though. Beef, broth, vegetables, and Guinness Stout. So, I thought, why not? The stout not only brings flavor, but it is great to tenderize the beef. Add turnips and kohlrabi instead of potatoes, then throw in some baby carrots and onions, and you have a delicious low-carb meal in one pot.

Guinness Stout Pot Roast

3-1/2 to 4 lb. Pot Roast
1 16 oz.-can Guinness Draught Stout
2 cups Turnips, peeled and cubed
20-24 Baby Carrots
3 stalks Celery, medium-sized
1 Onion, peeled and quartered
2 cups Kohlrabi, peeled and cubed
1 packet LIPTON RECIPE SECRETS ONION Mix or other Onion Soup mix
1 tablespoon Garlic and Herb Seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 tablespoon Olive Oil

Heat oven to 325 degrees (F.)

Peel the turnips and kohlrabi and cut each into eighths. Remove the strings from the celery and cut into one-inch pieces. Cut the carrots in half or leave whole. Peel the onion and cut it into quarters.

In a Dutch oven or ovenproof deep pot, add the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Prepare the roast by rubbing it with seasoning on both sides. Sear the pot roast in the hot oil to get a brown char on one side, then flip over and repeat.

Remove the roast, add in the onions and sauté for about five minutes. Return the roast to the pan, then add the Guinness beer and 1/4 cup water along with the Onion Soup mix. Bring mixture to a simmer, then turn off heat. Cover with a lid or with a double layer of aluminum foil. Place in the oven and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Add the vegetables to the pot and cook for another 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours until the vegetables are fork tender.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

To help sop up that flavorful sauce, serve slices of low carb Irish Soda Bread. Get the recipe here.

Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

A surprising rice substitute

Photo: Riced Turnips with chiles.

Turnips are often overlooked when people think about vegetables. While we turn to cauliflower to provide for many low carb vegetable substitutes, we don’t think about some of the other low carb vegetables that can work as well. Among them are kohlrabi, celery root, zucchini, beets, and turnips. All of these can be riced and used as a rice substitute.

Turnips can also be cubed and shredded to stand in for potatoes in hash or home cooked hash browns.

When I made stuffed Mexican chicken a few months ago, I substituted turnips in my rice with chiles. It was wonderful! I love the flavor and was thrilled with how well it worked.

One key to working with turnips is to use them as soon as you can. Although they keep a long time, they tend to get bitter the longer they sit.

Riced Turnips with Chile

1 large Turnip, peeled and cut into cubes
1 tablespoon Butter
1 tablespoon Green Chiles, diced
1/4 cup hot Water
1/2 teaspoon Better than Chicken Bullion
1/4 cup Onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Chipotle Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Boil water, pour into a 1/4 cup measure and add the bullion, stirring to dissolve.

Put turnip cubes into a food processor and pulse until it is chopped to the size of rice. In a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter, then add the riced turnips and onions. Sauté for about five minutes, add the bullion water and stir it in. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add chiles, salt and seasoning, stir and cook for another 10 minutes until the turnips are tender and most of the water has evaporated.

If the water cooks out before the turnips are tender, add more water. It should be about the same texture as cooked rice. Fluff up the turnips before serving.

Makes two 1/2-cup servings.

Image: Nutrition for Turnips with chile

 

Appetizers, Asian Recipes, Recipes, Seafood

Break Tradition With This Sushi Roll

 

Photo: California Roll made with cauliflower rice

I love California roll sushi. Not so crazy about raw fish, but put cooked crab or shrimp on it and I’m in. The only problem is that pesky rice exterior that holds the whole roll together! So as I was chomping down on a forbidden rice encrusted treat, I wondered if riced cauliflower would work with it. Just like that, this experiment blossomed in my mind.

I took fresh cauliflower, pulled apart the flowerets and tossed them in the food processor, pulsing until I had rice sized pieces. Then I cooked them in a pan with about 1/4 cup of water until the bits were tender and most of the water had evaporated. I put them in a bowl and placed it in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours.

When I was ready to make the sushi, I took out an ounce of cream cheese and softened it, then mixed it into the cauli-rice. From this point, I followed the recipe to make the roll. It came out great! Okay, not as pretty as a restaurant-bought one, but this was my first try at making it at home. I did buy a sushi kit that provided the bamboo rolling mat, other tools like a paddle and an avocado slicer, and a sushi knife.

Photo: Trio of sushi rolls made with cauliflower rice

Curious about options, I also tried this using riced turnips. This works well also, although the turnip retains more moisture than the cauliflower, so it’s best to drain after cooking and squeeze the excess water out in a paper or clean kitchen towel. The turnip has a tiny bite to it that actually works with the oriental flavors.

So, if you’re adventurous, try this California Roll recipe with either cauliflower or rice and let me know what you think.

California Rolls made with riced turnips

Low Carb California Roll

1 cup Cauliflower rice or riced turnips
1 ounce Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
4 half-sheets Nori roasted seaweed
1/2 teaspoon Sesame Seeds
4 pieces Crab Meat or 4 tablespoons of Cracked Crab.
4 thin slices Cucumber, cut in sticks
4 – 8 pieces of Avocado, cut into sticks
4-8 pieces Zucchini, cut into sticks
4 Carrot sticks, about 3-1/2 inches long, cooked and chilled

Wasabi
Sliced Ginger
Sodium-reduced Soy Sauce

Cook cauliflower rice in a small pan or skillet with 1/4 cup water, bringing to a boil, then reducing to a simmer. Stir frequently and add additional water if it evaporates too quickly. Cook about 15 minutes until done. It sound be firm, but tender to chew. Drain any excess water off. Let rice chill for 1 to 2 hours. Mix cream cheese, rice vinegar, and sesame seeds into the rice. This will help to bind the riced vegetables together.

You will need a bamboo sushi mat for rolling. Place it on a counter or cutting board and cover with plastic wrap.

Cut the vegetables for the filling and ready the crab.

Riced cauliflower with sesame seeds, cream cheese, and rice vinegar mixed in plus sliced avocado and zucchini.

Place 1/2 sheet of nori, rough side up, on the plastic wrapped sushi mat. Spread 1/4 cup riced cauliflower over the nori evenly, leaving a 1/4 inch edge free at each end. Across the narrow side, lay down the vegetables and crab next to each other.

Begin to roll the nori across the length of it, using the mat to press it firmer in the roll as you go. Rolling the mat over the top keeps it clear of the actual roll as you work.

When complete, place the sushi roll on a plate and repeat with the remaining vegetable rice, vegetables, and crab.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour to chill and set. This also softens the nori. Cut each roll into five pieces with a sharp knife.

Place on small plates with about 1/4 teaspoon wasabi and several pieces of ginger to serve.

Makes 4 servings (1 roll each).