Turnip Success!

I recently posted on my Facebook status asking of any of my friends had favorite turnip recipes to share.

The first response was "Eww. Nope."

The second response included "Double Eww. Good luck with that."

Well thanks ladies, that's encouraging.

I'm feeling all gung-ho in the kitchen lately, trying all kinds of new things (and, admittedly, failing frequently.) Why not turnips? Surely there must be a way to eat them that tastes good, or people would not still be going to the trouble of growing them... right?

I Googled "how to cook turnips" to get some ideas. Creamed turnips definitely did NOT sound appealing. Neither did boiled ones. I did read a nifty tip that if you put a potato in the water when you boil turnips, it takes the bitterness out of them (which is apparently quite overpowering.)

Here's what I did:

I peeled and diced two large turnips. Then I diced a couple of small red potatoes and left the skin on. Then, I made mashed "potatoes" the normal way (in our house. Which is not really normal. But it's good.) I drained them in the colander, then put them back in the pot with a couple tablespoons of homemade butter, and I poured in enough homemade ranch that when I smooshed them up they were nice and creamy.

You couldn't tell there were turnips in it. It was just like mashed potatoes, only a lot softer and creamier. Really, seriously, pretty darn good.

And this, coming from the Girl Who Doesn't Like Vegetables.

I'm gonna see if our local nursery carries turnip seeds.