Loading ...Mediterranean Cooking from the Garden with Linda Dalal Sawaya: Making lifit —Arabic pickled turnips
turnips with their tops fresh from the garden © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Homegrown turnips just harvested from my garden are the perfect size for summer pickled turnips—Arab style—called lifit.
Turnips can be easily grown in spring, summer, or fall—even winter depending upon your location.
Lifit are traditionally served with falafel or along with other pickles in mezza as one of many appetizers. This photos shows some dilly beans I also made from the garden harvest, using crisp, young borlotti beans.
lifit (pickled turnips) with pickled borlotti green beans © linda dalal sawaya 2015
The secret of their glorious color is in the use of one big beet in a jar of sliced white turnips, which impart their sumptuous magenta color to the entire batch of turnips.
turnips with their tops fresh from the garden © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Wash and thoroughly clean turnips removing the tips and the greens, which can be used in juicing, green smoothies, salads, or sautéed with onions, garlic, and olive oil.
washed turnips and beet © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Chop them into strips, wedges, or however you like, and salt them in a colander, leaving them to drain for a couple of hours.
turnips with with sea salt in colander © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Pat dry with a clean towel or paper towel and place into a sterilized jar along with one chopped beet. Add brine of salt, white vinegar, garlic, peppercorns, and red pepper and let sit for a week to ten days. Here’s how they look on the first day!
turnips with beet in brine on the first day © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Day 2, more color!
turnips and beet in brine, day 2 © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Lifit can be eaten a couple of days after they’re in the brine, and need to be refrigerated after a week or 10 days. They will stay crisp for a couple of months in the fridge. Enjoy adding this amazing colorful pickle to your table, along with the health benefits of eating fermented foods.
Full recipe is found in Alice’s Kitchen: Traditional Lebanese Cooking on page 31.
pickled turnips ready to eat! © linda dalal sawaya 2015
These are so easy to make and so satisfying! If you don’t have them in your garden, purchase fresh organic turnips and beets from your farmer’s market. Enjoy making them and sahtein!
—Linda Dalal Sawaya is a daughter of Lebanese immigrants, an artist, cook, Master Gardener, and author of Alice’s Kitchen: Traditional Lebanese Cooking.
Remember, as my mother Alice said, “If you make it with love, it will be delicious!”
all photos and story © linda dalal sawaya 2015