Summer Turnips and Sweet Carrots GF SCD

At this time of year turnips are in season. Sweet and ever so slightly peppery, turnips are rich in Vitamin C and provide a good source of fibre. If you are following the SCD, turnips are an advanced food. In the Eleventh Printing of the book, dated April 2004 it states "..turnips (may be tried after considerable improvement).."

Quite unpopular, this delicious vegetable does not take pride of place on the green grocer's shelves in the UK and is often sadly hidden, squeezed amongst the globe courgettes and asparagus and other fine vegetables which are peculiarly classed as "exotic" in this country. Maybe this is because the turnip was once the staple food of the poor in Northern Europe and widely used as animal fodder and its poor reputation unfairly persists. We love them and the smaller they are the sweeter they taste!

Carrots at this time of year are young and sweet. Packed full of Vitamin A, they are a wonderful addition to the pot! Served as a side dish, these vegetables are braised with fresh herbs. I throw in my own herbs to add sweet flavour to this dish. My potted thyme survived the winter.

And luckily, so did my Rosemary.

Summer Turnips and Carrots GF SCD

3 medium/large turnips
3 medium carrots
1 stalk celery
12 shallots
2 - 3 sprigs thyme
sprig of rosemary
3 - 4 stalks parsley
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
water

Wash the celery stalk and slice in two. Peel the shallots, turnips and carrots. Thickly slice the carrots and chop the turnip into chunks. All the vegetables should be about the same size, if possible.The celery is there to add flavour, you can choose to discard it when the vegetables are cooked.

Heat a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a pan, tip in the vegetables and cook gently over a low heat for a couple of minutes.

Wash the herbs.

Pour in some boiling water so the vegetables are about two thirds covered. Add the sprigs of herbs to the pan. Add about a teaspoon of salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and then gently simmer for about 40 minutes or until the turnips are soft.

Keep an eye on the water level and top up a little if necessary, there should be some stock left in the bottom of the pan when they're cooked.

Did you know that :

• the very young, small turnips can be grated or thinly sliced and eaten raw in salads.
• turnip greens are an excellent source of Vitamins K, A, C, B6, E and minerals calcium, manganese and copper and similar to Kale, an excellent source of lutein.
• Jack O' Lanterns were originally carved out of turnips but when the tradition was brought to the United States by the Irish and Scottish immigrants, it was replaced with the pumpkin which was much easier to carve.