Eat your veggies!

Anyone w/ country roots probably has a relative w/ a green thumb and some space to go crazy w/ either a big yard or some actual acreage. This can be both a blessing and a curse, my papa (pronouced pap-paw) is quite the master gardener and every season he has a huge crop of something. I have also given him the nickname "the produce pusher" bc he insists on you taking pounds of it or he will look at your like you have some how offended him deeply. This past winter he had a plentiful crop of greens and turnips (like i said it can be a curse) after a visit he sent me home with 4 empty butter bowls that had been converted into tupperware filled with frozen green, and about 4 lbs of turnips. what to do right? you cant say no bc he will shun you and you dont want it to go bad bc its still food. so w a little inspiration I was able to turn this curse into a blessing. I also threw in a recipe for kale which is an equally undesirable veggie that can be edible w/ the right recipe:
 
* special note/inspiration: the following recipe is from my m.i.l. and her crafty neighbor, it is basically unscathed however in my house we will use cheese!!!
 
Turnips au gratin

1 chopped onion
4c chopped turnips
Butter
3 eggs
3 oz of softened cream cheese
3/4c of flavored bread crumbs
1 c of cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven 350
2. Saute onions, and turnips in butter until turnips are soft
3. Mix/ beat eggs, cream cheese, cheese and 1/2 of the bread crumbs
4. Add turnips and egg mixture and transfer to casserole dish, top w/ cheese and remaining bread crumbs
5. Bake for 30 mins.

*Special note/inspiration:One of our favorite places to eat is a place called Fat Mikes at the Market (http://www.fatmikesonline.com) which is practically walking distance from my house. They cook seasonal veggies and specialize in "texas comfort food" everything is amazing. He made some greens that were absolutely out of this world and I headed home to create a knock off of this recipe. If you are ever in the Spring, TX area I strongly encourage you to check them out and try the original :

Knock off greens

2 cups of cooked greens
2-3 slices of bacon (turkey bacon is fine)
1/4 of a white onion sliced and diced- optional
a splash of Worcestershire sauce, Cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste
 
1. saute in a pan until bacon is fully cooked, and serve.

 
*Special note/inspiration: This recipe was from F&W, obviously something of a go-to for me, the actual recipe had a yougurt dip as an add on in case you wanted to use this as an appetizer.

Crispy Kale

1 Bunch of Kale
2 cloves of garlic pressed
olive oil
salt and pepper to season
 
1. Preheat oven to 400
2.Chop bottoms of kale to your preference
3. Toss kale w/ olive oil (just enough to coat) garlic and salt and pepper
4.Lay out on baking sheet and bake until crispy- every oven is differnet mine takes about 20 mins.
 
Yougurt dip
 
Plain Greek yougurt
Pressed garlic and lemon juice to taste
 
1. Mix and serve.