carrot, radish and turnip salad with microgreens / insalata di carote, ravanelli, rape e micro verdure

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pretty salad for one

Hippie Food by Jonathan Kauffman¹, our current Cook the Books Club selection, offers a wide historical view of nutrition in recent decades, with a particular focus on foods that moved from being consumed by a relatively small number of people to becoming mainstream. Each chapter introduces a varied cast of characters each of whom has contributed one or more threads to the complex tapestry Kauffman weaves as he describe the evolution of eating habits from the 1960's to the present.

As with a previous Cook the Books selection, The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone, the interest is in obtaining a historical view of what we observe in the present and may even take for granted, like organic certification. This reader sometimes had difficulty keeping in mind all the names and who did what. My suggestions would be to read the book in small bites.

Although I have lived in California for 25 years, I spent my childhood and early adulthood in Italy, so I don't have firsthand experience of the events described in the book that predate my move. The situation in Italy was different from that in the US. For example, Italians have always been serious about their bread, buying it fresh almost daily from a neighborhood bakery. I have never experienced the "plastic bread" described in the book. I do remember, however, when whole-wheat bread (pane integrale) became more readily available, as the health benefits of whole grains became better known.

salad turnips are a favorite spring crop

The book contains no recipes, but mentions a lot of foods, cookbooks and recipes. The inspiration for me came when early on, the book talks about alfalfa sprouts. I have eaten sprouts (germogli) occasionally, though I am not a regular consumer. Microgreens², on the other hand, have become a favorite salad ingredient, and I am fortunate I can get a variety of them at the farmers' market. The book also talks about farmers' markets and organic certification and my dish takes advantage of both.

Our farmers' markets have remained open during the shelter-in-place period so I have maintained access to fresh, locally grown produce and the precious smiles of our farmers, quite visible even behind masks. Although shopping at the market is not the festive social occasion it used to be, I am grateful I can do it and don't mind abiding by the rules that make us all (farmers and customers) safe.

fresh ingredients make a tasty salad

I buy carrots, radishes and salad turnips by the bunch, then, once I get home, I cut off the greens from all of them and use those in other dishes. I admit I am still learning to appreciate carrot tops: they have a rather strong grassy flavor that I must dilute with other greens. The Persian dish Kuku Sabzi (herb and green frittata), described in a recent post³,  is perfect for making use of the greens mentioned above plus fresh spinach (spinaci). 

One great characteristic of carrots, radishes and salad turnips is that they last a few days, unlike their greens, which wilt fairly quickly. This is particularly important for me as I am the only root vegetable eater in the household, which explains why the recipe is for one. Of course, it can be easily multiplied to nourish all the people around your table.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Carrot, radish and turnip salad with microgreens

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces / 113 grams of a combination of carrots, radishes and salad turnips, possibly organic, clean weight [see below]
• 1/2 medium ripe avocado
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, possibly homemade
• A pinch of fine sea salt
• 1 ounce / 28 grams microgreens of choice (for example, sunflowers, broccoli, arugula)

Scrub carrots well and scrape surface to remove a thin layer of skin. Scrub radishes and salad turnips and trim the tails.

Grate the root vegetables using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater. Combine to get a total of 4 ounces / 113 g. The number of units depends on their size and also on your taste: for example, more carrots mean a sweeter salad, while more radishes will give your salad more of a bite. 

Scoop the avocado meat into a small salad bowl or onto a plate. Add the mayonnaise and salt, and mash well. Add the grated vegetables and toss well, then mound them in the middle.

Distribute the microgreens around the root vegetables and serve. Toss again before eating.

Serves 1

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¹ The author's website and a review of the book on the NY Times.
² This page explains the differences between sprouts and microgreens.
³ My recent post featuring a personal version of  Kuku Sabzi (Persian herb and green frittata)

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di carote, ravanelli, rape e micro verdure

or launch the insalata di carote, ravanelli, rape e micro verdure audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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This is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

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And I am contributing my fruit salad also to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Cook the Books club co-host Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

The roundup of the event.

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salad, carrot, radish, turnip, microgreens, avocado

Comments

[DebinHawaii]

Thanks for joining in. I would imagine your experiences are quite different from growing up here but am glad you found some commonalities in the whole grain breads that were more readily available. Your salad is perfect for the book and looks delicious to boot. I would happily eat it! ;-) Thank you too for sharing it with Souper Sundays this week.

[Debra Eliotseats]

I love your photos of that produce! We have one market that opened up two weekends ago. I can't wait to start buying fresh and local again. Be well!

[Simona Carini]

You are welcome, Deb :)

[Simona Carini]

Thank you, Debra. I love the color contrast too. Happy return to the market :)

[Claudia]

What a delicious salad, and a perfect take from the book! I love your photo of the salad surrounded by a wreath of microgreens.

[Wendy Klik]

What a great summer salad made with local ingredients from the Farmer's Market...perfect when talking about this book.

[Simona Carini]

Thank you, Claudia :)

[Simona Carini]

Thank you, Wendy :)

[Delaware Girl Eats]

It's been 80-some degrees here all week, and I could certainly relish a summer salad right now. I too try to use most all parts of the vegetables I get from the farmers market, as the greens can often be more intriguing than the root vegetable itself. Luckily for you living in Italy, you were able to forego the pleasures of Wonder Bread.

[Simona Carini]

Yikes, Cathy, that's hot—and I can imagine wanting to eat refreshing dishes like salads :)

P.S. Indeed, for unknown reasons, your comments do not get published immediately and I need to do that manually. Apologies for TypePad's rude treatment.

[Delaware Girl Eats]

I guess we will get the better of Typepad eventually....