Recipe and Photos by Megan Winfrey

With the influx of turnips and rutabagas of late winter, I've been making a lot of mashes. I love turnip mash and make it in big batches, so it ends up on our plates quite frequently. Lucky for me, I don't live with picky eaters...usually.

Funny story. My husband usually makes breakfast. It's his favorite meal of the day. One weekend recently, I told him to sleep in and that I would make breakfast. I was almost done when he came into the kitchen, potatoes, bacon, and eggs ready in their pans. "Mmmm," he said, clearly very excited about sitting down with his favorite food groups. I chimed in "I'm making breakfast bowls with turnip mash on the bottom." "Umm, no thanks I'll just have everything else, no turnips," he replied.

Well, I'm a bit stubborn. My mother's old quip "You'll eat it, and you'll like it!" came to mind. So I assembled our breakfast bowls and we sat down to eat. He took two bites, and a look of annoyance washed over his face. He really, really didn't like it. And now all the good stuff was covered in turnip mash. Watching him rake his bowl into the compost bin was so incredibly sad, I wished I hadn't been so stubborn. I, however, cleaned my bowl and hope you will too.

Breakfast Turnips

• 3 turnips, peeled and cubed
• 1 white potato, peeled and cubed
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 tbs. butter

Turnip mash on toast.

For the mash, place the turnips and potatoes in a large pot with enough water to cover. Boil for 25-30 minutes, or until tender. Drain the water and mix in the milk, 2 tbs. of butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Mash, keeping it slightly lumpy.

Bowl: A thin layer of turnip mash topped with anything and everything breakfast-y ie. eggs, bacon, beans, greens, toast, hot sauce.

Yummy breakfast bowl.

Toast: Make toast. Add a thin layer of turnip mash and top with arugula, sunny side up egg, and roasted romanesco or other roasted veggies. Top with hot sauce. See picture above.

The process.