Carrots, Turnips, Parsnips and Spanish Onions. Carrots are scraped, turnips peeled thickly to get below the woody fibre, parsnips peeled thin or scraped. These roots are generally boiled with meat. If boiled alone, put two ounces of salt to a gallon of water. When put into boiling water, parsnips, onions, and carrots take over an hour, turnips half an hour. Turnips are generally mashed.