Harmony Valley Farm: June 1, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Baby White Turnips

We’re moving into the month of June, and it is definitely heating up! Hopefully, that means a strong finish to our asparagus season, but it also means we have a lot more vegetables coming in very soon! This week we’ve added Baby White Turnips to the lineup. These delicate turnips are a real treat in the spring and they’re gorgeous! If you’re not a turnip lover based on your experiences with purple top or other fall storage turnips, I hope you’ll give these a try as they are a totally different eating experience! This week’s featured recipes include Maple-Glazed Baby White Turnip & Shiitake on Soba Noodles (See below) and Roasted Baby White Turnips & Radishes (See below). Of course, they’re also delicious simply cooked lightly in butter or olive oil!

Pea vine is another new vegetable in this week’s box. When pea vine is younger, the stems are tender enough to eat, however they have a tendency to get more tough with time. I recommend you taste a little bit of the stem. If you find it to be a little stringy, strip the tender leaves off the stems. Don’t throw the stems away though! They are packed with flavor and may be used to add flavor to vegetable stock or soup. Just steep the stems to extract the flavor and then discard. I included a few of our favorite recipes from the past including Pasta with Asparagus and Avocado-Pea Vine Cream Sauce, Pea Vine Cream Cheese, and Pea Vine Pesto Pasta Salad.

Fresh red radishes are back in the box and I’ve given you a few ideas for ways to use them in more non-traditional ways. Check out these two chicken recipes for Pan-Seared Chicken with Crispy Radish Salad and Turmeric Chicken with Lemon Radish Salad.

These are just a few of this week’s recipe highlights, but I know you’ll find plenty of quick, easy ways to put this week’s vegetable ingredients to use in quick salads as well as some breakfast/brunch appropriate recipes. I know you always like to know what’s coming up, so I’ll whet your appetite by telling you that we’re likely going to start picking strawberries this week! Kohlrabi is also very close to harvest as well as more heads of lettuce from the field. The garlic scapes are also starting to form in the garlic field and we’re hoping to add some cilantro to the upcoming boxes! Lots more to look forward to as we start to transition from Spring to Summer!

Have a great week and happy cooking!!

-Chef Andrea

Vegetable Feature: Baby White Turnips

by Andrea Yoder

Baby white turnips are a classy little vegetable we often describe as being “pristine.” They are classified as a salad turnip and are tender with a sweet, mild flavor. Both the roots and the green tops of baby white turnips are edible and may be eaten raw or lightly cooked. We plant baby white turnips for harvest early in the spring and again in the fall when the growing conditions are cooler. They are intended to be harvested when they are still small and tender. The other turnips we grow in the fall are meant for storage purposes and have a thicker skin compared to the thin skin of a salad turnip. Baby white turnips also mature much faster than beets, carrots, and fennel, etc. so they are a very important part of our spring menus until the other root vegetables are ready for harvest.

While we call them “baby white turnips,” they are often referred to as Hakurei or Tokyo Turnips as they were actually developed in Japan. As I was researching this week, I found a new tidbit of information about this vegetable. These salad turnips were developed in Japan in the 1950’s at a time when there were food shortages due to World War II. This vegetable was a good option at that time because they mature in just 5-6 weeks.

To prepare baby white turnips for use, separate the roots from the greens and wash both well to remove any dirt. Salad turnips have such a thin exterior layer, they do not need to be peeled. They are delicious eaten raw in a salad, or just munch on them like an apple! You can also cook these turnips but remember to keep the cooking time short as it doesn’t take much to cook them to fork tender. You can simply sauté them in butter, stir-fry or roast them. The greens may be added to raw salads, or lightly sauté or wilt them in a little butter.

To prolong the shelf life, separate the greens from the roots with a knife and store them separately in plastic bags in your refrigerator.

Roasted Baby White Turnips & Radishes

Yield: 4 servings

1 bunch radishes

1 bunch baby white turnips

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Move the rack in the oven to the lower middle position. Place a roasting pan in the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F.
Remove the greens from the turnips and radishes.
Scrub the turnips and radishes well and wash the green tops of both in a sink of cold water.
Cut the turnips and radishes into wedges. Halve the small ones, and quarter or sixth the larger ones.
In a large bowl, toss the root vegetables with 2 tbsp of olive oil and ½ tsp of salt. Remove the hot roasting pan from the oven and spread the vegetables into the roasting pan, arranging them so most have a flat side down in the pan.
Return the pan to the oven and roast for 15 minutes, stirring and turning the vegetables at 7 minutes.
Dry the washed greens to remove excess water. Roughly chop the greens into bite-sized pieces, then toss them in the large bowl with the rest of the olive oil and salt.
Pull the roasting pan out of the oven, turn, and stir the vegetables again and then make a space for the greens. Spread out the greens in the space and return the pan to the oven.
Roast for 5 minutes more or to your liking.

Recipe sourced from www.justalittlebitofbacon.com.

Maple-Glazed Baby White Turnip and Shiitake on Soba Noodles

Yield: 2 servings

Photo from www.pbs.com

1 bunch baby white salad turnips

2 oz shiitake mushrooms (about 8 medium)

¼ cup light, un-toasted sesame oil or neutral vegetable oil

1 ½ Tbsp maple syrup

¼ tsp salt

½ pound buckwheat soba noodles

2 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce

1 Tbsp rice vinegar or mirin

1 Tbsp fish sauce

Optional: Fresh cilantro and toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Separate the turnip leaves from the turnips and wash both well. Pat the leaves dry and then finely slice the leaves. Cut the turnips into bite-sized pieces. Remove the tough stems from the shiitake mushrooms. Slice the shiitake tops thinly.
In a skillet, warm 2 Tbsp of light sesame oil or other neutral vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the chopped turnips, mushrooms, and salt into the warmed oil and sauté for about 1 minute. Add the 1 ½ Tbsp maple syrup and 2 Tbsp of water. After about 5 minutes, the water will have evaporated, and the turnips and mushrooms will be nicely glazed. At this point, add the sliced turnip greens and cook until wilted, about 1 more minute. Remove from heat.
While you prepare the glazed turnips and mushrooms, place a large pot filled with 8 cups of water on high heat. Once the water is boiling, add the soba noodles. Cook according to package directions. Do not overcook the noodles. As soon as they are done, drain all the water out and rinse the noodles in cold water to remove excess starch (this gives the noodles a lovely texture and ensures they won’t clump). If the noodles are too cold after rinsing, quickly dunk them in a fresh pot of boiling water.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix the remaining 2 Tbsp sesame oil, the tamari or shoyu sauce, the rice vinegar, and the fish sauce. Stir well and then add the drained noodles, tossing gently to coat the noodles well.
Serve the noodles with the glazed turnips and mushrooms and garnish with a little cilantro and sesame seeds.

Recipe sourced from wwwpbs.org with original recipe credit given to Aube Giroux from Kitchen Vignettes.

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

June 1, 2023 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Baby White Turnips

Cooking With This Week's Box

Vegetable Feature: Baby White Turnips

Roasted Baby White Turnips & Radishes

Maple-Glazed Baby White Turnip and Shiitake on Soba Noodles

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