Mashed Turnips

Last weekend, the fireman took the girl to see Journey to the Mysterious Island in 3D. You know? With The Rock? He wanted a Daddy/Daughter day. *AWE*

They had a lot of fun, and he came home to tell me he had 24 pieces of popcorn. He counted. Seriously.

I asked the girl if The Rock was shirtless at all. She said, "ew, no." Then she said, "but he did pop his pecks." Oh, my.

He's also taking the boys to see Ghost Rider 2 this weekend. He's making time with them one on one. I think it's a great idea.

And if it means that I get some extra time to lounge in the bathtub with a book? And maybe some chocolates? Totally fine with me.

So, anyway, getting back on track, we were talking about meals that we miss or meals that we really want. Cause I'm totally convinced that whatever you're really craving, there's a way to indulge in that craving without blowing your diet outa the water. You just gotta be creative.

I mean, you're not necessarily gonna get, like, cinnamon rolls, but you can get close most of the time.

I wanted roast and mashed potatoes, but we're still on our low carb kick. So, I got to thinking. Mashed turnips? Why not!

I've seen where people have mashed cauliflower as well to much success. But I think they run this through a blender to get it creamy.

After doing a short Google search, I found a few people say that since there's no starch in turnips, that it can be a little watery, so after I mashed them, I planned to press them a bit and put them back on the heat, to help any excess water evaporate.

So, first off, peel the turnips and dice into large chunks, like you would a potato. They're easier to peel, in my opinion as well.

Then, put them in a pot with enough water to cover them, and boil them, around 15-20 minutes, or until fork tender. They won't need to cook as long as a potato.

Once, they're fork tender, drain and mash.

This is where I mashed, then redrained, pressing a bit on them. I returned them to the stove for a few minutes to dry them out some. They didn't dry out much more, though.

I added a teaspoon of margarine *you could add more*, a splash of milk for creaminess, dash of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder. You definitely could add some chicken bullion to flavor it up, or anything you like.

I served with some gravy and they were delicious.

Really and truly awesome.

They were still more moist than I expected. They weren't terribly creamy. You could use a blender to up the creamy factor. And I can't say that they tasted like potatoes, but they were incredibly good!

And they're around 2 grams of carbs per 1/2 cup mashed. Oh, and I thickened that gravy with cornstarch, not flour, so it's fairly low in carbs as well.

Turnips have a natural sweetness to them, and it really makes it tasty! Turnips just may be my new go to veggie.

On a whole, it's not mashed potatoes. But, they were good and it filled that creamy, gravy covered consistency that I really wanted.

Honestly? If I had mashed potatoes and mashed turnips to choose from, I may actually choose the turnips 75% of the time, even without the carb/starch nature of the potato. I was always a potato lover, but these are dang good.

So, now I'm thinking I could slice these puppies into sticks, and bake them crispy with parmesan cheese and spices, like my own turnip fries. Oh, my my. With the additional sweetness and softness, I'm thinking they may taste a bit like a sweet potato fry.

Try these. Don't just try them because they're low carb. Try them because they've got flavor, baby!