Turnip Greens

I was recently asked about how I add greens to my diet...what greens to eat, and how to cook them. And although I do want to write a post all about greens, I came across these bunches of turnips at the Farmers Market on Saturday and decided to give them a try. There is no food that I won't try (I think!), and I especially love "2 for 1" veggies, in other words, like beets, you get the green part, the leaves, which are completely edible, for free!

Last year I roasted turnips along with other veggies like rutabaga, parsnips, squash, shallots and garlic. Turnips were not a favorite, but I don't dislike them either...they're fine. Whenever I bring home a veggie I've never prepared before the first thing I do is look up recipes by googling the name of the veggie followed by the words "salad" & "recipe"! I'm ususally interested in eating a veggie raw first, and then cooked...but that's just me! I did find a recipe for raw turnip salad (shredding the turnips), but I wasn't in the mood for salad and the turnip greens looked like the type of greens, like radish greens, that go "bad" quickly, so I had to use them ASAP, and there's practically nothing you can't make a soup out of, or add to a soup....so soup it was. Besides I had two chicken legs in my fridge that had to get cooked sooner, than later.

So, in my pressure cooker, I sauteed onion, celery (in big chunks) and garlic in some olive oil, added chunky carrots and turnips, 6 cups of water, 1/2 cup pearl barley, 2 chicken legs (thighs and drums), and 1tsp. salt. I cooked for 20 minutes, then let the pressure come down on its own and stirred in the greens from the turnips and, voila, Chicken and Barley Soup with chunky veggies and turnip greens. The turnip greens, after wilting in the hot soup, stayed a little chewy, which I like, but added nutrition and color! The flavor was pleasant, but slightly bitter. I'm sure there's many more ideas on ways to use these greens, but this recipe was based on the one and only time I've tried using them. I will try them again, maybe in a salad though...another time.

I always add some sort of greens to my soup, ususally Dinosaur Kale (Lacinato Kale), at the very least spinach or chard. Life is good....greens are good.