I have always been fond of Middle Eastern food. There are these delightful purple turnip pickles often served with your meal that I often crave but skip because I know the purple comes from beets. However you do not eat the beets, just the turnips, which are naturally low in carbs. I ran the numbers and they are not bad because they are so tart you only eat a few.

There are two types of pickling brine, one with vinegar and one without. If you find this recipe too tart, skip or reduce the vinegar and increase the salt in the brine solution. I find without vinegar you need about ¼ cup of salt per liter of fresh filtered water. With the vinegar I only use about 1 tablespoon.

I am not sure how to count this, maybe someone can help me. I know beets have about 15 net carbs per cup and turnips 5 net carbs per cup and I use about one cup of beets to 3 cups of turnips, so the vegetable count is about 30 plus the brine which I would estimate about 10 grams, but the beet and the brine are not eaten in whole (but they do infuse which means you get some of the natural sugar from the beets) , so I am not sure how to count. I estimate about 20 carbs per quart jar and I get about 8 servings per jar (this recipe makes two jars). Let me know if you are better at estimating a pickle

Enjoy, they are an acquired taste if you are not used to pungent foods.

Clean, very clean glass jar needed!
I use 2 wide mouth Mason quart jars which I run through my sterilizing cycle in my dishwasher. Boiling them for a few minutes in a stainless Dutch oven will do the same. Keep them sealed until you need them.

Purple Turnip Pickles

In stainless Dutch oven boil together
2 liters of filtered water
½ cup of white vinegar
2 tablespoons of sea salt or kosher
2 or 3 inner celery stocks with leaves minced (the ones way in the middle of the heart that often get tossed, very favorable!)
2 tbsp raw onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp Splenda

While you are waiting for the brine to boil put some gloves on and rinse, trim and chopped into big chuncks enough raw beets to make one cup. This is where the majority of carbs are found, 15 net carbs per cup. Remember you do not eat the beet, it is for flavor and color only. I peel them but I do not think it is really needed. It will look like a blood bath, great for Halloween!

You will need 3 or 4 medium sized turnips peeled and cut into French Fries shapes, thicker is better than thinner.

Now you are ready to pickle.

Place a layer of turnips fries and then beets on top in the bottom of jar. Pour brine to cover the layer. Add another layer of turnip, beets and brine. Continue until you fill the jar, making sure brine covers the last layer. Seal tightly and invert. Allow 3 days to pickle, before putting them in the refrigerator.

Great with sandwiches, and salads