Friends, I have a very serious question. How often do y'all cook with turnips? If you said, "never" don't worry, I completely understand where you're coming from! I think the reason why most people don't cook turnips is because they're unsure of how to make them or what they even taste like! Here's an informative, yet brief description of how I define turnips: Turnips are a root vegetable that have a similar texture to carrots. However, they don't taste nearly as sweet. When boiled, they have a consistency like potatoes. When roasted, the natural sugars (which are minimal) give the turnips a caramelized essence! They do have an earthy flavor, but not nearly as strong as it's relative, the beet! Most low-carb/paleo eaters like to use turnips as an alternative to potatoes because they're low in carbs and sugars. When Kimberly Crawford from Daytime reached out to me to do a segment on turnips, I jumped on the opportunity! One of my favorite dishes to make with turnips is a traditional Indian curry! Much of the curries I've had at Indian restaurants have been made with potatoes. Many years ago, when I ventured into creating low-carb recipes, I simply replaced the potatoes with turnips so my carb content wouldn't be super high. Because I absolutely LOVE eating curries over a bed of rice, making curries with turnips instead potatoes gives me a super satisfied feeling without feeling crazy bloated! Here is my One-Pot Chicken & Turnip Curry Pot recipe! Hope you love it as much as I do!
TIME: 30 MIN
YIELDS: 5 SERVINGS
CAL 438 | CARBS 20 | FAT 34 | PROTEIN 16 (without brown rice)
Ingredients
2 1/2 tablespoon of coconut or olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, medium diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 celery stalks, medium diced
1 pound of chicken thighs, medium diced
1 medium turnip, peeled and diced medium
2 tablespoon sizes of fresh ginger, peeled
3 tablespoons of curry
1/2 teaspoon of coriander
1/2 teaspoon of garam masala
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons of Himalayan salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (15 ounce) can of full fat coconut milk
1 cup of water
3 tablespoons white vinegar
Zest and juice of one lemon
Method
1. Chop & prepare all of the ingredients as listed above.
2. Place a large pot over high heat. Add the oil. Allow the oil to spread over the bottom of the pan and then add all of the spices. Mix the spices until well-combined and fragrant- this should take less than 30 seconds.
3. Add the onion, garlic, and celery. Turn the heat down so the spices don't dry up. If it looks a little dry you can add a quarter cup of water. Saute until the veggies start to caramelize and become soft. This process should take 5-6 minutes.
4. Add the chicken and turnips. Stir until well-combined. Using a microplane, zest the peeled ginger directly into the pot.
5. Add the coconut milk, water, and vinegar. Bring to a boil and the turn the heat down to medium. Simmer for another 20 minutes or until chicken is done and turnips are soft.
6. Use a microplane to zest the entire lemon peel into the pot. Be sure to avoid the white pith otherwise it will add a bitter flavor to the curry. After zesting the lemon, cut it into quarters and press the lemon juice into the pot.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed!
Serve with brown jasmine or basmati rice
Garnish with plain yogurt or plain dairy free yogurt! I used plain dairy-free coconut yogurt.