Creamy white salad turnips—have you met them? In this salad they’re one of three shining stars–creamy avocado, crunchy-sweet candied pecans and these crisp radish-shaped white salad turnips.
Their real name is Hakurei turnips, though they’re often called white salad turnips, or baby white turnips. You might also see the small globes labeled Japanese salad turnips, or Asian turnips.
Click here to save this salad to make later–on Pinterest!
Hakurei white salad turnips–-they’re crunchy crisp, with mild, almost fruity flavor. They’re less starchy and have a higher moisture content than purple-top winter turnips. They’re a refreshing spring/summer vegetable.
When the new-to-me Hakurei salad turnips showed up in our weekly farm share box, I came up with this combination–thinly sliced white salad turnips on a bed of crisp greens, lightly dressed in a simple tangy-sweet vinaigrette, with sliced avocado and candied pecans.
Author Deborah Madison, in her cookbook Vegetable Literacy (affiliate link), suggests slicing white salad turnips and enjoying them raw. That’s what we’re doing in this recipe–showing off their surprising flavor and texture. Madison says “Japanese salad turnips” are one of the most sought-after vegetables at her Santa Fe farmers’ market.
At your farmer’s market or the big natural food store, when you spy a bunch of white root vegetables that look a lot like radishes, they’re most likely Hakurei salad turnips. Snatch some up and make this salad! I’m sure you’ll agree that the mellow avocado and candied pecans are stellar complements to the unusual white vegetable.
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Questions you might have about Hakurei white salad turnips:
No, just scrub them well and trip off the tops and bottoms.
Absolutely! At your farmer’s market or in a farm share box, chances are that Hakurei salad turnips will come with their greens attached.
Cut them off and save the greens for another use.
*** You could add them to soups that call for leafy greens, like minestrone soup.
*** I like to wilt the chopped greens and their tender stems, and then toss them with pasta, something along the lines of this penne pasta with greens, sun-dried tomatoes and toasted walnuts.
Yes, when cooked, they’re sweet and buttery. (No need to peel. Simply cut them in half and sauté in a hot skillet until they’ve softened and have rich golden-brown edges.)
My friend Shirley cuts her salad turnips in half, greens and all, and roasts them with olive oil, salt and pepper.
For evenly sliced thin vegetables, a kitchen mandoline is the excellent tool. You’ll find it handy for slicing jicama and carrots as well as white salad turnips.
Notes:
*** For thin-sliced veggies, I often use my countertop mandoline (affiliate link), although the less expensive, no frills, portable OXO hand-held slicer (affiliate link) easily slices salad turnips into thin circles.
*** I don’t like using the pusher or guard that comes with many with mandoline slicers, prefering cut-resistant gloves for better feel and accurate thin slices. I like either the No-Cry or Victorinox gloves. (Affiliate link.)
No worries, just use the spicier radishes. The flavor combo will be different, but delicious in its own way.
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Hakurei White Salad Turnips with Avocado and Candied Pecans
Ingredients
Candied Pecans:
- ½ cup pecan halves or pieces
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Salad:
- 4 each white salad turnips or mild radishes
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 1 each avocado sliced
- 4 cups salad greens
Instructions
Pecans:
- In a small skillet, over medium high heat, using a wooden spoon, stir the pecans, maple syrup, and coconut oil until the maple syrup coats the pecans and they are lightly toasted. Set aside.
Salad:
- Whisk the rice vinegar, maple syrup, olive oil and salt together in a bowl. (This is the dressing.)
- Very thinly slice the salad turnips. (Use a mandoline if you have one.) Put about a fourth of the dressing in another bowl. Add the sliced turnips to coat them very lightly. Remove the dressed turnips from the bowl and set aside.
- Tear the lettuce into bite-size pieces. Add to the bowl and toss with dressing to lightly coat the lettuce, adding more of the dressing as you see fit. (You may not use all of the dressing.)
- Arrange the lettuce in a serving plate or bowl. Scatter the salad turnips and avocado on top. Coarsely chop the candied pecans and sprinkle over the salad. Finish with generous grinds of black pepper.
Notes
Nutrition
Years ago, circa 2015, I created this recipe to showcase the white salad turnips we found in our weekly farm share box. I moved the recipe to lettyskitchen.com and stopped posting on the farm share blog. I’ve separated the recipe into two blog posts, one for this salad, and a new recipe for a maple pecan vinaigrette dressing.
That really does sound amazing. · 19 June, 2022
Thank you Kalyn. You would love these salad turnips. I’m seeing them everywhere now. Even Whole Foods! · 21 June, 2022