Something's Turniping Me On

We are fortunate to participate in a CSA that showers us with an amazing locally grown, organic bounty of produce every week. Farmer Tom of Double T Farm takes good care of our bodies and our palates. The boys wait at the screen door to see what goodies are in my bag when I get home from Tom's local pick up spot. I empty my hemp bag emblazoned with "I love green!" on the front. I always chuckle, thinking to myself that "I love greens!" would be oh so much more appropriate.

Last week I brought home a veritable feast of green goodness. Every week elicits a culinary orgasm. I've been plowing through new recipes and cooking adventures, none of which involves meat. I'm not opposed to meat mind you. I crave an Inferno burger from MoJoe's time to time and even spice up the cholesterol intake by indulging in onion rings once in a while. Once. In. A. While. Neither my waistline nor my aging heart can handle that lack of nutritional integrity on a regular basis. But dang, my tastebuds need to be coddled every now and then. But I digress... For the last week or so I've been preparing vegetarian meals, not by choice but by happenstance. Our plates are so loaded with goodness that there's no room (and no need) to add anything else.

Believe it or not, turnips are a crowd favorite.

Turnips.

You heard me. I said TURNIPS.

T-U-R-N-I-P-S!

And most nights I don't even cook 'em.


Here's what I like to call my CSA Salad:

Quarter and thinly slice one large turnip into bite size pieces (by all means, save the greens to stir fry!). Peel and seed a cucumber. Slice into little bite size half moons. Now here comes my one cheater ingredient. Add one sliced avocado, cut into pieces that are uniform with the turnip and cuke. Add the zest of one lemon (stop grating at the yellow lest you get that bitter white pith!). Now add the juice of that lemon. Grate some fresh black pepper on top, give it all a gentle stir, and refrigerate for 30 minutes or so. Serve cold.

No salt. No oil. No Hidden Valley ranch.

I'm telling you, this crunchy goodness is a fine palate cleanser and compliments any meal. In fact, we just served it alongside an Indian feast of dal, palak paneer, and whole wheat naan. I added some chopped fresh cilantro to make it better suit the Indian flavors.

And no one missed the meat.



Cross posted at Foodie Mama.