As usual the second half of the week is me trying the pick as close to itself as I can get. I’m talking the most basic flavors so it is all on the veggie. I made a conscious effort to stay true to the spirit of trying and I followed through. It is a shame that I did not enjoy eating these.
I always imagined root vegetables as the quintessential image of eating more vegetables. I imagine a sunny spring day in a field of nothing but basic things such as carrots, parsnips and turnips and that is what the farmer eats because that is their livelihood and they sincerely enjoy it. They taste the hard work, the quality of the soil and the rays of the sun in each bite.
I tasted dirt and a weird texture of mush.
I don’t exactly enjoy the taste of these but I don’t hate them. If I saw them prepared with some other accoutrements I will definitely give them another go.
All I did was chunk these up, roll them in oil, salt, pepper and a little bit of thyme and roasted them. I’m starting to wonder if just the chunkiness of root vegetables is what is so off putting. I can eat some little pieces with ease, probably due to the fact they are more crispy, but the big ones take some willpower.
The au gratin turnips were smothered in cheese and butter but I could tell an instant difference between them and potatoes. It was a nice difference that I sincerely believe that I will make again.
I will admit that I enjoyed these more than the parsnips. The turnips at least have more flavor to them than those things. I feel I have to address the smell of some of these things. I can’t hear or see well, and I’m not even thirty which is crazy, but I have a pretty great sense of smell. There is a certain smell associated with some vegetables such as cauliflower or broccoli that is, how should I say elegantly, bad. Without going into too much detail, it involves a sulfur-ish smell. Turnips had that same kind of aroma to them and that always throws me through a loop somewhat. I admit that it’s not as strong as broccoli or cauliflower but it is present, to me at least.
I was originally going to use this recipe from Kalyn’s Kitchen, which is also where I thought of using the thyme. I was worried the vinegar may overpower the turnip taste, which I wanted as much of as possible. I also didn’t have any balsamic vinegar on hand (well, I had some but it was from three years ago). Whenever I’ve had turnips they have always been paired with greens which I smother in vinegar so I would love to revisit this and try the balsamic mixed in there. For now though, this was my taste of turnips and I’m not exactly thrilled.
Try 52 