Marinated Turnips with Orange and Pine Nuts

This salad needs to marinate before you serve it, so it's great to make when you're entertaining or going to a potluck. I like the way I feel when I eat something like this for lunch, but I also favor it for spring menus focused around the grill.

Servings: 4

Ingredients

for the dressing:

¼ cup thinly sliced scallions, white part only

zest of 1 orange, removed with a Microplane

juice of 2 oranges, about ½ cup

1 tablespoon ginger, grated on the Microplane

1 teaspoon fresh garlic, grated on the Microplane

2 dashes hot sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons honey

¼ cup rice vinegar

¼ cup olive oil for finishing

¼ teaspoon salt

for the salad:

1½ pounds turnips with their roots attached

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup orange supremes, roughly 2 medium oranges

½ cup salt-roasted pinenuts

Directions

1. Make the dressing: Whisk together the scallions, zest, orange juice, ginger, garlic, and hot sauce. Let this hang out for 5 minutes while the flavors bloom. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and set aside while you prepare the turnips.

2. Prepare the turnips: Bring a 4- to 6-quart pot of heavily salted water up to a rolling boil and set up an ice bath nearby. Wash the turnips thoroughly and separate the roots from the greens.

3. Using a mandolin, slice the turnip roots into 1/8-inch rounds. Transfer them to a 2-quart bowl. If the greens are young, small, and tender, blanch them for a generous 60 seconds, then drain and immediately transfer to the ice bath. If they are more mature, increase the blanching time up to 3 minutes. You want your greens to still have texture and show up bright green after shocking. You don't want them to be tough.

4. Once the greens have cooled down, drain them well and chop roughly with your knife. Chopping the greens makes the salad a little easier to eat. You can skip this step if you wish.

5. Transfer the greens to the bowl with the roots. Toss them with ½ teaspoon salt and pour the dressing over top. Stir it all up and refrigerate for a minimum of an hour. Just before serving, top with the orange supremes and pinenuts.