Turnip Salad with Yogurt, Herbs and Poppy Seeds

Salad turnips are so refreshing and juicy with an almost butter-like quality. I just love eating them raw but this salad make it feel a bit more luxurious than a snack. Feel free to swap creme fraiche in for the yogurt and add any herbs your palette prefers. Serve right away as the sliced turnips can exude moisture over time and make your salad a bit watery. Recipe courtesy of Joshua McFadden, from The Six Seasons cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch salad turnips and their tops trimmed off so there’s just a 1/4” of green left on the turnip (save tops if they’re in good shape and cook in a stirfry)

• 1 lemon halved

• 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes

• salt and black pepper

• 1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt or low-fat (not greek)

• 1 cup lightly packed mixed herbs: mint, flat leave parsley, chives

• 4 scallions, trim only 1/2” off the green tops; slice scallions on a sharp angle, then soak in ice water for 20 minutes, drain well

• extra virgin olive oil

• 1/4 poppy seeds

Slice turnips lengthwise as thin as you can (use a mandolin if you have one) then soak the slices in ice water for 15-20 minutes.

Rinse, dry and roughly chop turnip greens (if they aren’t in good shape, lightly sauté them in a small amount of olive oil). Put the turnips in a bowl and squeeze in about half the lemon. Add chili flakes, 1/2 tsp salt and fresh black pepper - toss.

Add the yogurt and toss again. Taste and adjust seasonings to your taste buds. Add herbs, scallions and 1/4 cup olive oil, toss and taste again - adjust seasonings if necessary.

Scatter half the poppy seeds on the bottom the plate, top with the salad and then finish with the rest of the poppy seeds. Serve right away.