Shaved Turnip, Radish, and Butter Lettuce Salad with Creamy Lemon Dressing

Be sure to start this enough ahead of time for the radishes and turnips to soak in ice water for at least a half-hour. This helps tame some of the bite, and yields nice crisp slices.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch radishes, root end trimmed, stems left 1½ inches as handles for slicing, washed

1 bunch Tokyo turnips, trimmed as above, washed

1 head butterleaf lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized bits

½ cup dry creamy cheese such a fresh goat, ricotta, or a soft mild feta cheese

½ cup of roasted almonds or pistachios, chopped coarsely

2 cups New Natives (or other) Arugula micro greens

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup Creamy Lemon Dressing (See recipe) or as needed

METHOD:

Use a Ben-Riner (or other mandolin) to slice the radishes and turnips into 1/16^th inch thin slices, using the stems for handles. Use slices at least a ½-inch, and not larger than 1 inch. This makes the salad easier to eat and less messy. Place the slices into ice water and keep there for at least 30 minutes and up to a few hours.

When ready to use, drain the sliced roots well and dry on a kitchen towel.

In a large non-reactive bowl, toss the lettuce with just enough dressing to lightly coat evenly. Add ½ the radish and turnip slices and toss to evenly combine, adding dressing if needed to coat them all. Distribute between 4 chilled plates.

Put the rest of the radish and turnip slices into the bowl and add enough dressing to lightly coat. Toss to coat and evenly distribute over the salads.

Scatter with the cheese, then the nuts, and finish with a plouf of sprouts. Scatter with a little crunchy salt and pepper, and serve.

Chef’s Notes: You could skip the cheese and nuts, and use a Creamy Poppyseed or Orange Poppyseed Cream Dressing (See site for both) to dress the salads. If the cheese you have is quite soft, just smear it onto a slice of toasted country style bread and put it on the side of the salad. As to the sprouts-yes, you can get radish sprouts, but the arugula add bandwidth to the radish and turnip flavors and are less hot. Also, the nutty flavors of the sprouts echo the nuts on the salad.

Serves: 4

Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen