Though I’ve always liked root vegetables – carrots, pickled or steamed beets, caramelly roasted rutabagas (which the British call Swedes) — I hated turnips. Until I grew them. What a difference from the bitter knobs my mother bought and boiled for my father who loved them! (My parents also ate canned asparagus, a revolting incarnation of a fabulous vegetable.). Though I hated turnips, I planted them in my first garden as a gift to my dad. But once I had yanked one from the ground, sweet and radishy andcrisp – a lovely addition to cole slaw I discovered – I realized that I really like turnips. I can’t imagine vegetable soup without them. Steamed and mashed with a dash of cream, nutmeg, and parmesan and dressed with a few chopped onions or shallots sautéed in olive oil they make an elegant and nourishing substitute for mashed spuds. They are lovely roasted with beets, carrots, an onion, and some fresh herbs. Shove that casserole in the oven when you’re roasting a chicken and you’ve got a great fall meal. You’ve got leftover veggies from this meal? Perfect. Add a boiled or roasted potato or leftover mash, simmer it all in herby chicken stock, puree it and stir in some grated cheddar for a rib-sticking roasted root vegetable soup.
Generally, root vegetables are easy to grow. Most are cool weather lovers. Seed them in either early spring or mid-late summer — the farmer down the way just flung in some turnip seed the second week in September and will start pulling his turnips in mid-October. Root vegetables need sufficient water, at least an inch a week, more if it’s hot and windy, good friable soil (easily tillable, you can stick you fingers in), and nutrients. Compost, a little organic fertilizer, and mulch usually does it. Not hard provided you don’t have, as I did this year, rabbits that ate three seedings of beets down to the nub. Other years have been better, but my continuing failure in the root veg. category is parsnip. I’m told they’re hard to germinate, and indeed, that’s been my experience. Sad because parsnips taste like a lovely sweetish blend of carrot, rutabaga and turnip, and make a delicious creamy soup. Peel them, chop into chicken stock with a small onion, a little cider or chunk of apple if you’re inclined, a dash of nutmeg and dash of coriander. Simmer until soft and blendable, then add a dash of cream or fresh yogurt. Perfect on a rainy day.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.