Now here’s a good way to eat your turnips. I had 2 bunches of turnips that I got over 2 weeks from Ollin Farms‘ CSA. So, part of my CSA Challenge was figuring out what to do with turnips. To be perfectly honest, I thought I was sick of turnips. I got a bunch of scarlet queen turnips one week and they sat in my fridge until the following week when I got another bunch. I officially had more turnips than I could eat… or so I thought.

I sliced them and a local walla-walla onion I got at the Boulder farmers market, and tossed them in a dressing of:

• 2 TB Worcestershire
• 1 TB dijon mustard
• 3 TB heavy whipping cream
• 3 TB maple syrup
• 1 TB olive oil
• 1 TB grated parmesan
• fresh ground black pepper

Scarlet Queen Turnips were in the CSA share, and I really had no plan for them. I tucked them in the fridge and didn’t pay attention to them until I decided to make a potato salad. Turnips go well with potatoes because they have a similarly smooth texture, add a little variety, and lighten some bites since you’ll get mouthfuls that are not all potato.

For this potato salad, I boiled 10 small Yukon Gold potatoes and 6 large Scarlet Queen Turnips until easily pierced by a fork. I drained them and gave them a rinsing in cold water to stop them from cooking.

When cool to touch, I quartered them, transferred them to a large mixing bowl, and dressed them with:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 4 TB apple cider vinegar
• 2 TB Worcestershire
• 2-3 TB German mustard
• fresh ground black pepper

There is, in my and many locals’ opinion, nothing better than a Hazel Dell mushroom. They are quite simply the best mushrooms you can buy around here. They really make a meal.

Now, I don’t eat red meat, so the entire meal was actually a grilled steak topped with a mushroom saute, hon tsai tai, and freshly baked bread with Camembert cheese. I just ate the side dishes…

I sautéed some shiitake and cremini mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I added a little white wine and let them cook a little before adding a tablespoon or so of dehydrated chopped shallots from Savory Spice Shop. Everything is better when Savory Spice Shop is involved!

And my dinner was: bread and cheese, mushrooms, and greens… but it was perfect for me.

I must give my thanks to Mark at Ollin Farms for introducing me to Hon Tsai Tai. Since I joined Ollin Farms’ CSA, I have a feeling this summer is going to be one of culinary experimentation with whatever they give me in my weekly share of organic veggies. I’m definitely up for the challenge.

Hon Tsai Tai, however, wasn’t really a challenge. I treated it like broccoli rabe and was pleased with the result. It also went well with some Hazel Dell mushrooms.

I chopped the hon tsai tai into reasonably sized pieces and sautéed them in a little olive oil and chopped garlic for just a few minutes until they softened and turned deep green. Then sprinkled it with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. This was really simple and really good.