Turnips and radishes are in the same family as beets. All of these are edible greens. In fact if you have ever sprouted radish greens from seeds, and used them in salads, they are great as are mustard greens, and many other beans, and the brocolli family greens. Heck, even the leaves of brussels sprout plants are edible and are great as meat stuffed leaves like cabbages.

Turnip greens are really good, but a little strong if you're not used to them. They can be frozen too, or canned, but the canning time is forever. I chose to freeze mine. We like mixed greens to get a really good flavor - kale, turnip and a little mustard. Have never tried radish or beet. A little balsamic vinegar and salt? good.

I grow turnips especially for the greens. They are some of the best. And I sometimes eat radish tops in a salad. Radish leaves can be a little hairy, but I thought they were fine. If cooked they would probably be smoother.

Freezing greens is simple. Just blanch briefly in boiling water and package them.

Remember, some greens require more cooking than others. Collards, for example, need long cooking to be at their best.

Use greens as a major ingredient in soups, such as minestrone. Good!!!!

Jim

I haven't ventured beyond the collard greens, which I ended up trying by accident and LOVED them. It seems the texture of collards are different from turnip/radish so this may not work for you. My DH and youngest son will eat greens as I prepare them but are not a favorite. I LOVE them so here's what I do: I take a big batch of greens, double wash and pick over to be sure there are no bugs/worms. Then I slice them in strips minus the main vein. I steam/boil these in a small amount of water, a tiny amount of sugar to cut any bitterness, and GASP, the traditional piece of bacon/ham or any type of seasoning that recreates that smokey flavor. I even add chopped onions or a small amount of garlic sometimes. When they are done, I drain them and package in single serve freezer safe baggies. I use them up before summer is even over, usually for myself but sometimes pull several packs out to make a side for a meal. When I heat them up, I add butter and a vinegar "hot sauce," which you may or may not care for. Lori

I second that emotion, gardengalrn. You have every detail just right for for collards. The same methods are good for other greens with just a little less cooking time for the more tender ones.

Jim

Most greens have a milder flavour and tenderer texture if picked young, and a more flavourful "bite" and need more cooking if picked mature.

I've had teeny baby radish sprouts in salads, and they gave a lovely nip, but I wouldn't personally want a whole salad of them.

I do love beet greens. Apparently swiss chard (which I love, steamed quickly and sprinkled with a hint of lemon and maybe a few sesame seeds or a pinch of mustard) is pretty much a beet without the bulbous root.

Experiment and enjoy --- be sure to report back your great successes!

Zabby

When working at Beth Israel Hospital, I could always tell when they were preparing collard greens. You could smell that smokey aroma everywhere. Obviously they didn't use real bacon there..
Beet greens are what makes borshe as good as it is. No more beets for me however..

Radishes are fast growers and so, you can plant several batchs one after the other during the growing season.

If I do cooked greens, its usually in a covered dish on the microwave. No added water, and you get naturally steamed greens.

Wow! Thanks for such great suggestions! Now, I have many different ways to try these greens. I especially like the idea of adding them to hearty soups like minestrone, and although it's a bit warm for soup, the directions to prepare and freeze the greens will allow me to put it in soup in the winter.

I think my next batch of greens will be split and prepared four ways - with butter and hot sauce - with balsalmic and salt - with lemon and sesame - and of course with bacon and garlic. I will probably only end up with a few bites of each, but the tasting will be fun!

Thanks again for your responses!
-Jujubee

Sorry to contradict ksrogers, but beets are not in the same family as radishes and turnips. The latter are Brassicas. Beets are Beta species.

Personally I like to eat all my greens fresh, working my way through the year from sprout tops, kale and savoy cabbage in Winter through spring cabbages to summer cabbages, beet tops and spinach with chard going all the year round. Interestingly beet tops are almost unknown in the UK, being grown soley for the roots. In fact we call them 'beetroot', not beets. My usual cooking method is just to sweat the damp greens in a little butter in a closed pan. Sometimes I mix in shavings of carrot, onion or leek. Carraway seeds are good with cabbage and a smidgeon of nutmeg is good with chard.

I was under the impression that beets, being a root crop came under the same heading as carrot, and turnip. Hmm. Hard to believe that a beet is related to broccoli.. At least the greens are good anyway.

As I stated in my post beet is NOT related to broccoli. But radishes and turnips are. The relationship is not to do with whether they are root crops or not but is based on botanical characteristics. Carrots are not related to either beet or brassicas. If you read a book or article on vegetables which gives botanical names and families all this will become clear. The link takes you to a table of vegetable families.

Here is a link that might be useful: vegetable families

Thanks

A popular and tasty soup around here is Portuguese Kale Soup. It can be made with kale or cabbage. Even better is a combination of the two. I see no reason why other greens would not be just as good.

2 packages frozen or 2 lbs fresh kale or cabbage, shredded (or both)
1 large onion, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 lb. chourico or linguica, sliced (kielbasa, andouille or similar sausage works well if a Portuguese sausage is not available)
8 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup Olive Oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 lb. dry cannelloni beans, soaked and cooked (or 1 can of beans, drained and rinsed, if you must)
Red pepper flakes to taste
Salt & pepper to taste

I think you can figure out the method, which is like most other soups. Measurements are not critical. Improvise as you please.

Jim