Tag Archives: turnips

Beef, Main Dish, Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

St. Patrick’s Day is a toast to the Irish

It’s March 17th as I write this and around my house, it’s time to celebrate the tiny bit of Irish blood that runs in my body, although the house mate is endowed with a great deal more.  We love eating foods that remind us of our trip to Ireland and scones, shepherd’s pie, Irish stew, and tea  are great favorites here. While corned beef and cabbage is more American than Irish, we have a go at it also.

I do have a recipe for you for my version of Corned Beef and Cabbage. While not strictly Irish, it is an Irish American dish that originated in New York City. The Irish immigrants used to make a dish with bacon and potatoes, but found that deli cut corned beef from the Jewish market was less expensive and filled the bill just fine. Likewise, cabbage was less dear than the potatoes, so they substituted. Now it’s a common dish in America.

My version of corned beef is baked rather than boiled, although I’ve also grilled it on a BBQ. As for the vegetable assortment, I’ve substituted root vegetables other than potatoes, all of which are lower in carbohydrates. Enjoy this variation on the American traditional dish.

Baked Corn Beef with Root Vegetables

Corned beef baked in Guinness is the best and so simple to do. The cabbage mixes with a delicious assortment of root vegetables to substitute in for the potatoes and bring an assortment of flavors.

1 Corned Beef brisket, about 3 to 4 pounds
1 bottle of Guinness stout
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Preheat over to 325 degrees.

In an ovenproof pot (I use my cast iron pot), add the olive oil and heat. Add 2 tablespoons of crushed garlic and stir. Put the corned beef in, fatty side down and cook for about 10 minutes to sear the meat, then turn the beef over and sear the top side. Flip it over again, add the Guinness, cover and remove the pot to the middle of the oven. Cook for 2 hours. Check for tenderness. If a fork goes in easily, then flip the corned beef over and leave the lid off, so that the fatty side on the top can now brown in the oven. Add 1 cup of water if the liquid in the pot is getting low. Cook for another 40 to 60 minutes. Start your vegetables on the stove at this time.

St. Patrick’s Root Vegetables

1 cabbage, 5-1/2″ to 6″ head, cut into 8 wedges
2 cups of cubed turnips (about 1×1 cubes)
2 cups of cubed kohlrabi
2 cups of cubed rutabagas
2 cups of cubed golden beets
2 drops of sucralose or 1 packet of Splenda
1 cup of beef broth or bouillon
Salt and pepper to taste
Corned beef spices tied in a cheesecloth (usually come with the corned beef)

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add 2 drops of sucralose, broth, and seasonings, reduce to a medium heat then add beets, rutabagas and kohlrabi to cook. If turnip is very porous and tender when you cut it, add it about 10 minutes later. Otherwise, add at the same time as the other vegetables. Cook vegetables about 40 minutes, fork testing for tenderness. When almost done, add the cabbage wedges and cook another 5 to 8 minutes until the cabbage is just tender.

Makes 8 servings

Nutrition Information for Vegetables per serving:
Calories: 74 Fat: 0.5 g Net Carbs: 10 g Protein: 3.4 g

Tip: Don’t cook your cabbage until you’re ready to serve it. If you expect to have two or three servings left over, then save the cabbage to cook when you reheat the vegetables and broth. This will keep it from getting too soggy.

I’d like to wish everyone a  wonderful and safe St. Patrick’s Day, I would like to point you to some of the delicious recipes on the site to help you celebrate in style.

Start with breakfast and this delicious Corned Beef Benedict.  This is  delicious start to the day or a great brunch item.  You can serve it on a muffin in a minute or serve it without bread at all.

 

You can also try  a Corned Beef Hash for your morning start or have
it the day after if you have left over corned beef.  It uses low carb vegetables in place of the potatoes, so you can enjoy this great dish without guilt.

 

LC Irish Soda Bread -It takes a little work and some special flours, but you can enjoy Irish Soda Bread without running the carbs too high. I use low carb baking mix and nut flours to make a delicious loaf.

Scones are a fantastic breakfast or tea option.  I love them and make them frequently.  In fact, I am planning to publish a little book of scone variations that might amaze you. They’re very flexible. Here’s a basic Scone recipe. 

Like a seafood option? Dublin Lawyer is a traditional Irish preparation of lobster that is quite tasty and reminds me of lobster thermidor.

 

Don’t forget the recent addition to this list of Irish Style Pork Stew that is absolutely delicious. And it cooks fairly quickly.

 

 

For dessert, you could try a nice Irish Apple Cake that is very good when served with whipped cream.  It’s simple to make and just needs a little low carb  baking mix and almond flour to make. Both the coconut flour and Vanilla Whey protein powder in the recipe are optional.

Another dessert option is an Irish Cream Cheesecake. This one is small and delicious.  You can make your own low carb Irish Cream or use a commercial one.  The trick is to let it sit for at least several hours in the refrigerator to let the flavor soak in, then let it come to room temperature for about 20 minutes before you serve.

Here are a few more recipes on the site that might interest you, so check them out if you’d like:
     Irish Style Celery and Kohlrabi
     Irish Horsey Sauce – a horseradish recipe
     O’Kelly’s Slim Irish Cream

 

 

Healthy Life, Tips

What is that …?

…and what do you do with it?

That’s a question I’ve been asked many times at the grocery store check out stand from either customers or the clerk when I’ve bought a couple of unusual vegetables. While not uncommon or even unknown in the United States, they are odd-looking and often overlooked by shoppers. I am speaking of kohlrabi and celery root, two very delicious vegetables that can add a different flair to your dinner while coming in at a lower calorie and carbohydrate count than a potato, pasta, or rice.

So, I’m on a mission to introduce more people to these tasty but lesser known edibles.

To be honest, I didn’t discover them until the past few years when I started changing over to a low carb lifestyle to manage my weight. A friend in Europe told me about kohlrabi and while picking one up at the store, I was curious about celery root. Both vegetables are peculiar-looking, but the flavor they hide is wonderful.

kohlrabi2
Both the leaves and the vegetable on a kohlrabi plant are edible. These are a winter crop and can be found in the markets around February until the middle of summer, depending on where you are.

Kohlrabi is a cousin of broccoli and if you like the taste of that vegetable’s stem, then imagine it in a milder version and you have the taste of kohlrabi. It looks like an alien plant when you see it with the leaves attached as the stems come out from all over the round vegetable. The leaves are also good to cook and eat along with other greens.

Most often, it seems people who use kohlrabi grate or chop it to add to salads. However, it is wonderful when cooked. I make kohlrabi fries just as I would potato ones. You can also boil it into a mash with other vegetables, steam it, roast it, or turn it into a scalloped dish. It works best for these dishes when precooked a little to speed up the cooking time. You can also par-boil and freeze it.

celery-root
Celery root is usually sold by the root. Look for the larger ones to get more value.

Now, celery root looks like a big, ugly lump when you see it in the store. It’s a gnarly-looking root. This is not your usual garden celery, but the celeriac root. The taste of it has a hint of celery, but it isn’t very strong. Once you peel off the exterior and clean it up, the meat is versatile. You can use it almost any way you use a potato. In fact, if you wash it up well, cut it in half and bake it, it makes a great substitute for a baked potato. Just don’t eat the skin.Texture-wise, it’s the only substitute vegetable I’ve found, apart from other potato family ones, that is like a potato when baked. It makes fabulous plank fries and goes well in soups.

I’ve also added turnips to my meal plans, finding that turnips and cauliflower mashed together with butter and cream made a great-tasting substitute for mashed potatoes. Cauliflower flowerets along with diced turnips, kohlrabi, or celery root can make a great-tasting macaroni-free cheese dish.

Apart from changing up the usual starches at dinner, these options are also lower in calories and carbs. If you’re wanting to cut back a little, try one of these vegetables for a change.

Take a look at the differences in nutrition:

Kohlrabi – per 1/2 cup:
18 calories 4.2 grams carbohydrates 2.5 g fiber 1.2 g protein

Celery root – per 1/2 cup
33 calories 7.2 g carbohydrates 1.3 fiber 1.2 protein

Turnips – per 1/2 cup
18.2 calories 4.2 g carbohydrates 1.2 g fiber 0.6 gr protein

Potatoes – per 1/2 cup:
51.8 calories, 11.8 g carbohydrates 1.8 g fiber 1.3 g protein

Have you tried kohlrabi or celery root?  If so, how did you use them and what did you think?

Pictured at the top is a Broccoli, kohlrabi and ham bake.  All photos are copyright by the author.

Main Dish, Poultry, Recipes

Quick & Cool Sausages and Turnip with Greens Skillet

One of the joys of Spring is all the fresh greens available at the market. Most of these edible leaves have about the same carb and calorie count so they can be used interchangeably in this recipe. Sometimes you will find bags of mixed greens and other times, you have to buy them separately. This is a very Southern dish, but delicious and easy to make.

My recipe makes a large pan of greens that can make a filling meal for two people or serve four with additional side dishes, like fruit or squash, and a slice of low carb bread.

Sausage and Turnips with Greens

3 cups fresh greens (Spinach, Chard, Turnips Greens, or Bok Choy)
1 medium Turnip, peeled & diced *
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
2 cups shredded Cabbage
2 Louisiana Hot Link Sausages  (can be beef, chicken, or pork)
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Salt to taste
White Wine Vinegar to taste

*May also use 1 cup of kohlrabi or celery root

Bring a pot of water to a boil, then add the diced turnips and cook for about five minutes. Drain.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until it starts to sizzle, then reduce heat to medium and add the garlic.

Stir in the turnips and cook for a few minutes, then add the sausages and cook for about five minutes until the sausages begin to brown.

Add the greens and cabbage, salt and pepper. Stir and cook until the greens are limp. Sprinkle wine vinegar over the top and serve.

Makes two large servings.

Turnips
Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories: 174 Fat: 16.7 g Net Carbs: 8.7 g Protein: 12.9 g

Kohlrabi
Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories: 188 Fat: 9.7 g Net Carbs: 9.5 g Protein: 8.1 g

Celery Root
Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories: 191 Fat:10.0g Net Carbs: 13.4 g Protein: 7.3 g

Beef, Recipes, Soups and Stews

Cottage Pie is Comfort Food

When winter is howling at the windows and the temperatures are dropping into the red zone of the thermometer, it’s time to look for warming, hearty food dishes that make you feel secure. One of those is the Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie. The basic difference between the two is the meat used for the filling. Strictly speaking, if it’s lamb, you have a Shepherd’s Pie. Any other filling is a Cottage Pie.

This Cottage Pie is made with minced up beef or ground beef. I found a package of chopped carne asada, which is basically steak meat cut in tiny pieces, at my grocery store or you can it into small bites yourself. Instead of using potatoes, I used a combination of cauliflower, turnips, and kohlrabi to make the mashed vegetables to top off the stew-like filling. You can use all cauliflower or any combination of the vegetables that you prefer.

This dish tastes wonderful and it fills you up with a warming winter dish that won’t add unwanted pounds.

Cottage Pie

1 lb ground or minced Beef
2 slices of thick-sliced Bacon
1/2 cup Onions, chopped
1 teaspoon minced Garlic
1 cup Mushrooms, sliced
1 large Carrot, diced
1 cup Green Beans, diced, cooked
1 tablespoon Low Carb Flour
1/2 cup diced Turnips
1 cup Cauliflower, chopped
1/2 cup Kohlrabi, chopped
1 tablespoon Heavy Cream
1 cup Beef Broth
2 tablespoons Butter
Seasoning Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder, optional
1 cup Cheddar Cheese, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees(F.)

Cook turnips, cauliflower and kohlrabi in a pan of water until tender. Drain well, then mash with a masher or in a food processor. Add cream, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Cook bacon in a heavy skillet, drain on a paper towel. Pour off most of the bacon fat, leaving about 1 tablespoon, then add the garlic and onion and lightly brown. Add the beef and stir fry until lightly browned. Stir in the mushrooms and cook a few minutes. Mix the low carb flour into the beef broth and add to the skillet and bring to a boil. Break the bacon into pieces and add to the pan along with the cooked carrots and green beans and cook until the mixture thickens.

Pour into an 8×8 baking pan. Smooth the turnip and cauliflower mixture over the top to form a top crust. Sprinkle optional cheddar cheese over the top.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Let cool about five minutes, then serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories:480 Fat:35.9 g Net Carbs:4.6 g Protein: 31 g

Beef, Breakfast & Brunch, Recipes

Not-Quite-Traditional Corned Beef Hash

I had some left over corned beef and even though I have a great corned beef hash recipe, I wanted to try the more traditional version.  But it isn’t quite the traditional version since I used other root vegetables than potatoes for the hash.  While it doesn’t have the starch from potatoes to glue the hash together, it is still a very tasty dish with lots of wonderful flavor from my selected root – turnips and rutabagas, plus the addition of Irish cheddar cheese.

Just a note here, in the US, we call the purplish vegetable with the orange flesh a rutabaga, but I understand that in Ireland, and possibly other European countries, it’s referred to as a turnip.  Where US turnips are the white vegetable with a purplish blush skin.  Parsnips, on the other hand, look like a big white carrot and are higher in carbs.

Corned Beef Hash with Eggs

1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 cup Onion, chopped
1 cup Turnips and 1 cup Rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
12 oz. cooked Corned Beef, cubed
1/2 cup Bell Pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Parsley
1/8 teaspoon dried Thyme leaves
Salt to taste (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground Black Pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup Kerry Gold Irish Cheddar, shredded
4 Eggs, fried
1/4 cup Beef Broth
OR 1 teaspoon Better than Bullion Beef in 1/4 cup hot water.

 Peel turnips and rutabagas and cut in half, then into quarters.  .  Put into a pot and add enough water to cover.  Cook for about 20 minutes, then check for fork tender.  The turnips will probably cook faster than the rutabaga, so remove to a colander to cool, add more water to the pot if necessary and cook the rutabagas another 20 minutes, until they are also fork tender.  Drain and cool.  Dice turnips and rutabagas into 1/4 inch cubes.

Heat olive oil in the skillet over medium heat, add the onion and cook until it turns golden brown. Stir in the corned beef and cook a few minutes, stirring now and then. Add beef broth or bullion and seasonings and stir. Add the root vegetables. Continue cooking about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender and meat is hot.

Remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Serve with a fried egg on top, garnished with a few green onion slices, if you like.

Makes 4 servings

Nutrition Info per serving
Calories: 383.2 Fat: 25.5 g Net Carbs: 5.8 g Protein: 26.6 g