May 23, 2024 - This Week's Box Contents Featuring Baby White Turnips

 

What's In The Box

Baby White Turnips:  These little turnips are also known as “salad” or “hakurei” turnips. Read more about this, our featured vegetable, in this week’s vegetable feature article. You’ll find them to be tender, sweet and do not need to be peeled.  The greens are also edible and may be used in salads or wilted down in soups, stir-fry, soup, etc.

Egyptian Walking Onions:  This week you will receive 2 bunches of this overwintered spring onion.  Use the green tops and white bottoms in any recipe calling for green onions or scallions.  Take note that you may have an onion that is starting to form a top set. The green stalk/leaf that this grows out of may become rigid and tough as the top set matures. If you find this to be the case, discard that portion of the onion or use it to flavor a soup, stock, or broth. Aside from this scenario, the greens are edible.

Asparagus:  This week your box will contain two bunches of asparagus, approximately 0.75# per bunch. We are coming up to the end of asparagus season with maybe one or two more deliveries after this one.

Green Top Red Radishes:  To get the most out of this bunch of radishes, eat the green tops and the roots! The tops maybe made into pesto, stir-fried, added to soup and eaten in a salad.

Little Gem Head Lettuce:  These little mini heads of lettuce are compact varieties that may be grown in small spaces, such as our tunnel greenhouse!  Use this lettuce to make a salad or use them as a “scoop” for other dips and fillings.  

Rhubarb:  These bright red stalks are often used as a “fruit” in desserts and baked goods, but rhubarb is really a vegetable! Take advantage of its sour/tangy flavor where it shines in savory dishes, such as last week’s featured recipe for Persian Rhubarb Stew.

Salad Mix: This is a mix of baby lettuce varieties and greens including tat soi and red Russian kale. Take advantage of the convenience of this item to put together a spring salad very quickly! Use a vinaigrette or light creamy dressing to dress these greens. The key to longer shelf life is to keep this product cold, so return any remaining portion to the refrigerator as soon as possible!

Baby Arugula or Baby Spinach:  Both of these items make a great base for a salad, but both may also be used in other ways aside from salads. Use the arugula as a topping for pizza or pasta.  Blend the spinach into soup or pasta dishes, such as are listed below!

Hon Tsai Tai:  This is a unique spring green that is in a class of vegetables known as a “flowering brassica.”  It is characterized by green leaves, purple stems, and beautiful yellow flowers. You may enjoy this green either raw or cooked. The stems are mostly edible when they are young and tender and the flowers are edible as well!  

Recipe Suggestions & Inspiration For This Week’s Box Contents

Chickpea-Turnip & Lemon Soup 

Radish Sandwich with Butter & Salt 

Radish Butter 

Asparagus Salad with Almonds & Ginger-Sesame Vinaigrette

Asparagus Salad with Creamy Dijon Mustard Sauce & Hard Boiled Eggs 

Slow-Cooked Lentil Curry with Rhubarb 

Baked Salmon with Roasted Rhubarb 

Rhubarb & Blueberry Galette 

Tortellini Soup with Spinach & White Beans 

Vegan Dan Dan Noodles (with spinach & scallions) 

Arugula Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette, Almonds & Parmesan 

Burrata Pizza with Shaved Asparagus & Arugula Salad 

Creamy Scallion Herb Dressing 

Korean Scallion Salad 

Sichuan Style Pork Lettuce Wraps 

Spicy Beef Lettuce Wraps with Thai Lime Dressing 

Sesame-Soy Hon Tsai Tai Chicken Salad (See Below)

Hon Tsai Tai & Shiitake Pot Stickers 

Vegetable Feature: Baby White Turnips

Freshly washed Baby White Turnips

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 are edible and may be eaten raw or lightly cooked. Compared to the common purple top turnip or other storage turnips we grow in the fall, salad turnips are much more mild and subtle in both flavor and texture. So if you think you don’t like turnips, at least give these a try!

Preparation & Usage:

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 with dip or hummus. 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.

Storage Tips:

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

Growing Information:  

Baby White Turnips in the field

We plant baby white turnips for harvest early in the spring and again in the fall when the growing conditions are cooler.  We harvest them while they are still small and tender, when the sweet flavor matches their delicate appearance.  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.

Sesame-Soy Hon Tsai Tai Salad with Turnips & Chicken

Hon Tsai Tai

This week’s recipe comes from the Harmony Valley Farm archives. It’s the perfect recipe for this week’s box and over the years has been a favorite amongst members for this time of the season.  This is an entrée type salad that can be served as a meal on its own. This is a recipe you can do all the prep for in advance and then assemble it just before eating. It is best to dress the greens just before serving, so if you are not going to eat it all in one meal, separate the portion you need and only put dressing on this portion.  This recipe makes more dressing than you will likely need for the quantities of vegetables.  Save any extra dressing and use it to make a quick salad to accompany another meal using some of the other greens in your box. You can also repurpose any extra dressing and use it as a marinade for steak or mushrooms. Enjoy!

Yield:  2-4 as an entrée

2 Tbsp soy sauce

4 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 Tbsp honey

3 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

4 Tbsp sunflower oil

2-4 green onions and/or green garlic

1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced

Black pepper, to taste

½ tsp salt, plus more to taste

½-1 bunch hon tsai tai

4-5 baby white salad turnips, with greens

3-4 red radishes, with greens

1 ½ cups cooked chicken, small dice

1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and sesame oil. Stir well to combine and incorporate the honey. Stir in the sunflower oil.
2. Thinly slice the lower white portion of the green onions/green garlic. Add the white portion to the bowl containing the dressing mixture. Set aside the green tops. Stir in the onions/garlic, as well as the minced ginger and ½ tsp salt. Set the mixture aside until you are ready to use it.
3. Prepare the vegetables. Start by removing the leaves from the hon tsai tai stems. Cut or tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces and put them in a mixing bowl. Mince or thinly slice the remaining tender stems and flowers. You can use the entire stem except for the lower 1-2 inches and/or any stems that may be more mature and feel tough. Put the minced stem and flowers in a separate medium sized bowl.
4. Cut the green tops off of both the turnips and the radishes.  Wash and dry well. Cut or tear both of the greens into bite-sized pieces and add them to the bowl with the hon tsai tai greens.  
5. Cut the turnips and radishes into quarters and then thinly slice them and add them to the bowl with the hon tsai tai stems. Thinly slice the remining green onion/garlic tops and add them to this bowl as well. Stir to combine all the vegetables.
6. Add the chicken and half of the dressing to the bowl with the hon tsai tai stems, turnips, and radishes. Stir to combine.
7. Drizzle some of the remaining dressing over the greens, using just enough to lightly coat the greens. Divide the greens onto 2-4 plates.  Top with the chicken and vegetable mixture. Finish each plate by sprinkling them with toasted sesame seeds.

Recipe by Andrea Yoder, originally published in June 2014.