When the weather turns a bit chilly down South, big batches of turnip greens start hitting the grocery store shelves and farmers markets. Large, dark leafy delights with roots that range from golf ball size all the way up to softball sized tempt shoppers. The leaves are a great source of Vitamins C, K and A. It is also an excellent source of calcium, A great boost of nutritional power in the middle of winter. They are a lot of work to prepare, but fresh from the garden turnip greens are a delightful treat that are worth it.
When you have purchased root on turnip greens, the first thing that needs to be done is to start the process of cleaning. This is a labor intensive process to get rid of the sandy soil that most turnip greens are grown in. With a sharp knife, cut off the root portion and place aside for future use. Pick through the bunches and remove any discolored or unusable leaves.
Stop up your kitchen sink and fill it half way. Place the turnip leaves into the sink. The leaves will float. Swish the leaves around in a washing machine-like motion. After a minute of the motion, the first layer of sand is going to be dislodged. Drain the sink. You will be surprised at the amount of sand in the bottom, even with relatively clean turnip greens. Sometimes it will look like an sandbox landed in your sink the first pass or two of cleaning. Repeat the process until the bottom of the sink is pretty much sand free. This will be between two to five times. Making sure turnip greens are fully clean will ensure a smoother texture with no gritty feeling in the mouth.
The last step in turnip preparation is picking the leaf off of the stem. Break a single leaf off. Tear the dark green portion of the leaf off of the lighter green stem. Place the pulled off leaves into the cooking pot. Place the stem into the discard pile. Continue on until all of the stems have been picked clean.
The reserved turnip roots can be cut up and cooked along with the greens.