Chickpea and Turnip Mash

No, wait, come back!  Yeah, this one's going to set a record for least-viewed post.

On the meal calendar, I put "mashed chickpeas", which just told me I was making something with chickpeas that wasn't hummus.  It was near the end of the month, when I tend to get vague and just put the name of the protein and something resembling the word Casserole.  The one after it was actually listed as "canned chicken casserole".

When shopping day neared and I looked at the grocery circulars, colcannon sounded pretty good.  But on the other hand, Passover was rapidly approaching and I didn't want to have potatoes as a main dish.  PS, colcannon should really have a kosher for passover designation on the blog.  I'm surprised I didn't mark that.

I came up with this version of it using turnips, with chickpeas in there for protein, to make it a main course dish.  Turnips are kind of spicy, and I went to town looking for seasonings to brighten it up further.  It was vegetarian day, so I had a side salad, but bacon would go very nicely as a garnish.

2 lbs turnips
1/2 head of green cabbage
1 leek
1/4 C butter or margarine
*1 15 oz can chickpeas
salt as needed
*2 Tb buttermilk powder, optional
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp white pepper

1.  Peel and roughly chop the turnips.  Place in salted water and bring to a boil.  Lower heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until pieces can be easily pierced by a fork, about 20-25 minutes.  Drain.

2.  Thinly slice the cabbage while the butter is melting in a large pot over medium heat.  Also thinly slice the leek, white and light green parts only, and mince the garlic.  Add these to the pot and cook until the cabbage is well wilted, about 10 minutes.

3.  While that is going on, mash the turnips.  I opted to do it in the stand mixer with the paddle.  Drain the chickpeas and add them to the mix, along with the paprika, celery salt, mustard powder, and white pepper.

4.  At this point, the mixture might be a bit watery.  This is why I oped for dried buttermilk powder instead of liquid buttermilk.  It will help to soak up some of it.  Taste and add salt as needed.

5.  Add mash to the cabbage and simmer until heated through and more of the water has cooked off.  Serve hot.

Difficulty rating  :)