I was going to wait to post this until next week but turns out I have a few friends who got turnips in their CSA boxes this week and they tend to throw away their turnip greens, so for you…

I spent a rainy Saturday at Boggy Creek Farm during Edible Austin’s Urban Farm Bike Tour and I learned all about the Japanese turnip.

Speaking to Carol Ann, the mama of Boggy Creek, she explained to me that they recently switched all their turnip production over to Japanese Turnips. She told me that rather than getting bitter as they get a bit big, these just stay sweet. Turnips weren’t my favorite, but like the ol’ brussels sprout, they’ve become a staple in my diet through the winter. I love roasted turnips as an afternoon snack, but I tend to toss the turnip greens in my compost.

While at the farm, I shared the afternoon with the oh so very lovely folks from Snack Bar here in Austin. The samples they were handing out to bike riders for the Urban Farm Tour were little cups of turnip panna cotta with lemon curd and turnip pesto. Sadly, they were full of dairy so I couldn’t taste them, but it sure gave me an idea. I bought 2 bunches of Japanese Turnips from the folks at Boggy Creek and ate them that very evening for dinner. I then blended the turnip tops into a delicious pesto.

I don’t know what happened, but this literally is my new addiction. I was eating it by the spoonful and finished the entire tupperware of it within 3 days. I look forward to making this over and over. I didn’t even have the chance to put this on pasta: I ate it on rice, on greens, on the roasted turnips, on a fried egg…

Turnip Greens Pesto
3 small-medium cloves garlic
Turnip Greens of 2 bunches (about 6 cups packed greens)
1/2 cup almonds*
1 Tablespoon pine nuts OR pecans*
1/2 cup olive oil
3 teaspoons lemon juice
1-1 1/2 teaspoons salt
sprinkling of pepper

Place garlic in your food processor. Add greens, smooshing down the sides with a plastic spatula until most of the greens are chopped. Add 1/4 cup olive oil and blend. Add nuts. Add the rest of the olive oil and the lemon. Add salt and pepper to taste. Use on pasta, as a salad dressing, as a dip, on rice…

*I might try half pecans and half almonds next time. I might also see how different it is if the nuts are toasted first. Just a thought!