Iranians love turnips, "Shalgham", they're one of the most popular vegetables during autumn and winter in Iran. The most common recipe is to boil them in salted water, and eat them very simple with some salt and pepper. We also have some lovely soup recipes with turnips, one of the most famous one called "Ash-e Shalgham" which is basically turnips cooked with rice, mixed Iranian herbs for soups, lentils or mung beans, turmeric, onion and sometimes meat, Very delicious!

Iranian mothers are also very serious about eating turnips and steam inhalations with boiled turnips, especially during sickness periods; turnips are a good source of vitamin A, folate, vitamin C, vitamin K and calcium and the steam is very good for your breathing problems.

This recipe is another simple way to prepare them, you can prepare these as a side-dish with meat or fish, or you can mash them to make a puree, cut them in small pieces and prepare a wintry salad, or simply add some salt, extra virgin olive oil and eat them with fat yogurt and bread! You can also cook turnips with other vegetables like carrots or potatoes in the same way.

Serves 4 People

Ingredients:

3 kg turnips
2 liters of water
extra virgin olive oil
salt
chili flakes
black pepper
honey
4 cups of cooked couscous
4-5 fresh hot & sweet chili peppers
sliced

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C/392°F/gas6, and bring the water to boil on a big pot.
Wash the turnips, cut the upper side and make some cuts to help them cook faster (as you can see in the photos) add the turnips in the boiled water, add some salt, let them boil for 10-15 minutes.
Rinse and dry them a little bit, put them in roasting pan, add some extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Turn the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and cook the turnips covered in the oven for 30 minutes and then other 30 minutes at 200°C/392°F/gas 6 uncovered to give them a beautiful color and a bit crispiness on top.
Add some extra honey on top of the turnips at the second 30 minutes, to take out the bitterness of turnips, a perfect tip to make your turnips lovable and tasty for your children.
Serve them hot as a side-dish with meat and fish, add them to your salads, mashed them to make a puree or eat them simple with some olive oil, salt and pepper.
Serve them with couscous, sliced of fresh hot chili peppers, a Japanese mix spice called Shichimi and extra virgin olive oil!