Turnip
Brassica rapa

Turnips come from Europe where they were used for both human and animal food.
This round root vegetable, the size of a big apple, belongs to the Cruciferae family.
A turnip has a white flesh as well as its skin, but the latter has also a purple-tinged top.
Its leaves can also be eaten. They are called turnip greens and look like spinach.

Do not mistake this vegetable with rutabaga. They look alike but do not belong to the same botanical family. Rutabagas have a yellow flesh and are bigger.

Health benefits
Turnips, like other vegetables, are poor in calories. It can be part of a diet menu. Moreover they have diuretic properties.
This vegetable is high in vitamin C (11 mg for 100 g of turnip and 30 mg for 100 g of turnip greens). Vitamin C has a powerful antioxidant, meaning that this vitamin quenches free radicals and neutralizes destructive oxidation reactions.
Vitamin C also promotes the absorption of iron. Turnip is therefore an interesting vegetable for vegetarian since they always strive to meet their need in this mineral.

Turnips are also a good source of calcium, phosphor and magnesium.

Turnip greens provide larger amounts of these vitamins and minerals and are especially rich in folic acid. This vitamin is essential for the normal growth and maintenance of all cells and vital for the reproduction of those cells within the fetus.

How to eat them?
When you buy a turnip, choose small or medium size ones. The large ones are often hard or even woody. Small and young turnip will have a delicate flavor.
The skin must be free of bruises.
The greens are usually sold separately. You cannot have nice greens and roots at the same time. A big root will have bitter leaves and nice leaves are ready to eat when the root is still really small.
The green leaves are often cooked like spinach.

Before eating, turnips must be washed and peeled if their skin does not look nice and tender. Otherwise you can brush them under running water and keep the skin.

You can eat the turnip raw if it is young but large ones have a strong flavor. In order to reduce this flavor you can blanch them by boiling them for 5 minutes.

Turnips cut into cubes may be braiséed or stir-fried with other vegetables. They can be steamed then mashed with rutabaga for example.

They are always liked in a soup to which they add a nice flavor and there would not be a pot au feu without them.

Peak season
Their peak season is fall and winter months.

Storage
Turnips keep well. They can be kept for two weeks if placed in a cold place.
In the contrary, turnip greens have to be eaten in a few days.

Nutritional values

***USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 13 (November 1999)***
Nutrients	Units	Turnip raw	Turnip cooked	Greens raw	Greens cooked
Water	g	91.87	93.60	91.07	93.20
Energy	kcal	27	21	27	20
Protein	g	0.9	0.71	1.50	1.14
Total lipid (fat)	g	0.1	0.08	0.3	0.23
Carbohydrate	g	6.23	4.9	5.73	4.36
Fiber, total dietary	g	1.8	2	3.2	3.5
Minerals
Calcium	mg	30	22	190	137
Iron	mg	0.3	0.22	1.1	0.8
Magnesium	mg	11	8	31	22
Phosphorus	mg	27	19	42	29
Potassium	mg	191	135	296	203
Sodium	mg	67	50	40	29
Zinc	mg	0.27	0.2	0.19	0.14
Copper	mg	0.085	0.064	0.35	0.253
Manganese	mg	0.134	0.1	0.466	0.337
Selenium	mcg	0.7	0.6	1.2	0.9
Vitamins
Vitamin C	mg	21	11.6	60	27.4
B-1 (thiamin)	mg	0.04	0.027	0.07	0.045
B-2 (riboflavin)	mg	0.03	0.023	0.1	0.072
B-3 (niacin)	mg	0.4	0.299	0.6	0.411
B-5 (pantothenic acid)	mg	0.2	0.142	0.38	0.274
B-6 (pyridoxine)	mg	0.09	0.067	0.263	0.18
Folate	mcg	15	9	194	118
B-12	mcg	0	0	0	0
Vitamin A	I.U	0	0	7600	5498
Vitamin A	mcg RE	0	0	760	550
Vitamin E	mcg ATE	0.03	0.03	2.9	1.721
Lipids
Fatty acids, saturated	g	0.011	0.008	0.07	0.053
Fatty acids, monounsaturated	g	0.006	0.005	0.02	0.015
Fatty acids, polyunsaturated	g	0.053	0.042	0.12	0.091
Linoleic acid (18:2)	g	0.012	0.009	0.036	0.028
Alpha-linolenic acid (18:3)	g	0.040	0.032	0.084	0.064
Cholesterol	mg	0	0	0	0

Turnip Brassica rapa

Turnip
Brassica rapa