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Sauteed Japanese (Hakurei) Turnips and Greens

5/27/2025

Ingredients

Directions

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, cut greens from turnip bulbs, leaving a small portion of stem (less than 1/2 inch) attached to each bulb. Wash leafy greens and turnips well of any sand. Peel turnips. (You can also leave the turnip skin on, as it's edible, in which case, just wash and scrub them extra well.) Slice each turnip pole to pole into 4 to 6 wedges of 1/2 inch thick each.
Add leafy greens to boiling water and cook just until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Using tongs or a spider, transfer greens to cold water to chill, then drain, squeeze out excess water, and chop into small pieces.
Heat oil in a cast iron, carbon steel, or stainless steel skillet over high heat, just until the first wisps of smoke appear. Add turnip wedges, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring and tossing occasionally, until well browned in spots, about 3 minutes; lower heat if turnips threaten to burn.
Add chopped greens and toss to combine, cooking just until greens are warmed through, about 1 minute longer. Drizzle with fresh oil, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

5/21/2025

Ingredients

Directions

Snip ends off beans and sugar snap peas; remove strings from snap peas. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil over high heat. Add beans and reduce heat; simmer, covered, 4-5 minutes. Add sugar snap peas; simmer, covered, until both beans and peas are crisp-tender, another 2-3 minutes. Drain.
Toss beans and peas with radishes. Stir together honey, tarragon, salt and pepper. Drizzle over vegetables.

5/7/2025

Ingredients

Instructions

Fill a small saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil. Prepare a bowl of ice water and set it near your stove. Set up a food processor with the blade attachment (or get your blender all plugged in and ready).
Drop the basil leaves in the boiling water and blanch briefly just until they’re wilted, 5 to 10 seconds. Use tongs to transfer the basil leaves to the prepared ice water. This stops them from continuing to cook.
Wrap the basil in paper towels and dry very thoroughly. Squeeze to wring out all the water and transfer to the food processor, along with the garlic, pine nuts, and lemon juice.
Blend until everything has broken down into small chunks. With the processor running on low speed, slowly pour in the extra virgin olive oil. Do not run the processor too long, you want to have a little bit of texture to your basil pesto.