Exploring New Frontiers in Salad

It all started with a raw kale salad I sampled at a restaurant several years ago, showered in bread crumbs and anchovy-garlic dressing. A salad of raw Brussels sprouts with pecorino and walnuts came next, followed by a raw beet slaw with orange.
Everywhere I looked, the latest in vegetable fashion seemed to be serving things raw that were once generally cooked.
I like this trend. The salads are appealing — crunchy, full-flavored, sprightly — and easy to make, with no cooking required.
The only potentially tricky part is procuring truly fresh, tender vegetables. The older and tougher they are, the chewier and less pleasant to experience in the raw.
Once I started expanding my uncooked-salad horizons beyond lettuce, it was hard to stop. Every young, supple vegetable that came into reach was potential salad fodder. I discovered the joys of raw chard, raw corn, raw butternut squash and, perhaps most surprisingly, raw turnips.
I sampled this last delicacy at the Greenmarket, where Ray Bradley, one of my favorite farmers, was carving up some kind of oblong white root with a pocketknife. He handed me a chunk. It was as juicy and crisp as a radish, with a similar snap. But the flavor was sugary and soft, not at all spicy.
I assumed it was some kind of mild daikon.
The farmer shook his head. “Turnip,” he said succinctly.
Now, I like roasted and braised turnips well enough, but I can’t say I crave them very often.
Raw turnips, however, are magical — as gentle as carrots but juicier, with a very slight tang that makes the sweetness even more pronounced.
Since that day, I’ve been eating the majority of my turnips raw. Usually, I just peel them, cut them into cubes and drizzle them with olive oil. When they are set out on a plate for snacking, I can polish off an entire bunch with my predinner cocktail, in lieu of olives or nuts (or alongside them, in which case, dinner becomes moot).
In this salad, I use a mandoline to slice small turnips, about an inch and a half in diameter, into gossamer rounds, then toss them with peppery arugula, slivers of soft prosciutto and a honey-laced red wine vinegar dressing.
It’s simple and straightforward, but the raw turnips make it unexpected. At least for now. I suspect raw turnip salad might soon be joining raw kale salad on menus everywhere. And that would be a very good thing.