Foods of the South

My favorite food of the south is turnip greens. Here they come with biscuits and pinto beans! Many people put hot sauce on the turnip greens. Lots of choices from

spicy, tiger sauce, to Louisiana fire sauce. For me, I just love turnip greens plain. I love the taste just the way they are.

Greens along with backeyed peas are traditions for New Years Day. They symbolize good luck and prosperity. This tradition dates back prior to the Civil War. The greens symbolize dollars or good crops and the peas coins of gold.

A number of years ago we were in the area for New Year's day and visited a local restuarant.They presented everyone with free turnip greens for good luck.

What about nutrition?

The noticeably bitter taste of turnip greens has been linked by researchers to its calcium content. On an ounce-for-ounce basis, turnip greens contain about 4 times more calcium than a much less bitter-tasting cruciferous vegetables like cabbage. Even in comparison to mustard greens, turnip greens contain about twice the calcium content. High calcium content is not the only reason for the noticeable bitterness of turnip greens, of course. But it may be an important contributing factor. While the commercial food industry has sometimes tried to breed out the bitter-tasting constituents from turnip greens, this practice doesn't make sense if you want to maximize your nourishment from this cruciferous vegetable. A much healthier approach would be the use a recipe and cooking method that brings out the delicious potential of turnip greens in a flavor-blended way.

The connection between turnip greens and cancer prevention should not be surprising since turnip greens provide special nutrient support for three body systems that are closely connected with cancer development as well as cancer prevention. These three systems are (1) the body's detox system, (2) its antioxidant system, and (3) its inflammatory/anti-inflammatory system. Chronic imbalances in any of these three systems can increase risk of cancer, and when imbalances in all three systems occur simultaneously, the risk of cancer increases significantly. Among all types of cancer, prevention of the following cancer types is most closely associated with intake of turnip greens: bladder cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and ovarian cancer.

Recipe for Vegetarianreen Turnip Greens

Ingredients 2 pounds turnip greens 1 shallot, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 cup vegetable stock 1 teaspoon pepper flakes 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard ½ chopped pecans 1 tablespoon olive oil Black pepper Heat olive oil in a large pot. Saute garlic, shallot and pepper flakes until tender. Add the cleaned and cut turnip greens and mix. Saute until the greens wilt and add pepper to taste. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine the mustard and vegetable stock and whisk together. Add to the pot and cook the greens until the liquid is virtually gone. Remove from heat and add the pecans. Enjoy!