THIS WEEK YOUR BASKET CONTAINS: potatoes, onions, turnips, carrots, cabbage, and salad mix (spinach, arugula, and radicchio)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  We hope your holidays were as fun, relaxing, and rejuvenating as ours were.

When we plant turnips for fall harvest, we often have some turnips that germinate late, get shaded by the earlier plants and don’t make useable roots before succumbing to cold temperatures and rain.  This year’s mild winter changed that dynamic.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that the late germinating turnips continued to grow and have produced a late crop for us.  These “surprise” turnips would be great in the recipe below.

SPINACH AND TURNIP BHAJI

7 ounces turnips, peeled and finely chopped

spinach or other greens

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons grated ginger

1 onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil.  Add the turnips.  Cook 1 – 2 minutes. Add the spinach and paprika.  Cook 2 – 3 minutes or until all the water has evaporated. Mash the mixture to the best of your ability and remove from heat. Heat the oil in a second saucepan over low heat. Add the ginger and onion and cook 2 – 3 minutes.  Add the vegetables from the first saucepan.  Mix well and toss until everything is well seasoned.  Serve with the lemon juice.

My favorite type of recipe is one that is infinitely adaptable to whatever we have on hand.  The farro salad below is one such recipe.  We recently made this and added a LOT of roasted root vegetables to it.  We roasted carrots, celeriac, and parsnips (coated in a generous amount of olive oil) in a 400-degree oven until the veggies were browning and added them to the salad just before serving.  We didn’t have the tomatoes or basil, but used some Hamburg parsley leaves.  If you like raw turnip, you could substitute them for the radish (we still had Red King daikon radish in our fridge so we used those).

FARRO SALAD

1 cup farro

1 cup apple cider

2 teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed

2 bay leaves

8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ cup Parmesan cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler

½ cup chopped pistachio nuts

2 cups arugula leaves

1 cup parsley or basil leaves, torn

1 cup mint leaves

¾c up halved cherry or grape tomatoes

⅓ cup thinly sliced radish

Maldon or other flaky sea salt, for finishing

In a medium saucepan, bring farro, apple cider, salt, bay leaves and 2 cups water to a simmer. Simmer until farro is tender and liquid evaporates, about 30 minutes. If all the liquid evaporates before the farro is done, add a little more water. Let farro cool, then discard bay leaves.  In a salad bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Add farro, cheese and pistachio nuts and mix well. This salad base will keep for up to 4 hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator (bring to room temperature before serving). Just before serving, fold in arugula, herbs, tomatoes, radish and flaky salt to taste.

The recipe below is one of my favorite ways to serve cabbage.

EASY STRUDEL QUICHE

2 Tbs vegetable oil

3 cups chopped onions

7-8 cups chopped cabbage

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tsp dried dill

1tsp salt

black pepper

8 oz cream cheese, cubed

1 1/2 c. grated hard cheese

1 egg

1 9-inch pie crust

Saute onions in oil until translucent.  Add the cabbage, caraway, dill, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the cabbage is limp and both cabbage and onions are begining to brown.  Light browning gives a sweeter, richer flavor.  Remove from heat and drain any excess liquid.  In a large bowl, mix cream cheese and grated cheeses (we prefer smoked cheddar) with sautéed vegetables.  Add egg and mix well.  Put mixture into pie crust and bake in 350 degree oven for approx. 45 minutes or until golden brown.