with honey lime dressing & chopped pistachios. Take the sweetest juiciest oranges, put them on a bed of beautiful greens and top them with thin-sliced turnips for a light zest and crunch factor. Then drizzle with sweet tart honey lime dressing. And sprinkle with chopped pistachios and a bit of Aleppo pepper. The result is a sublime winter salad that brings sunshine to your taste buds.

Cara Cara Orange & Turnip Salad with honey lime dressing and pistachios made with Persian lime infused olive oil

With just a few ingredients, but such a beautiful presentation and a flavor and texture explosion, this salad invites you to dig in and enjoy.

Perhaps you’re wondering about the turnips. I have to admit, I hesitated too. In fact, I downright refused them when my dad offered. But once I finally took a taste, I discovered turnips are awesome. Raw turnips have a nice crunch, a light sweetness and a zesty little kick. They remind me of a daikon radish. Not super spicy, with a lovely crunchy texture.

You can roast the turnips to mellow out the spice and bring out the sweetness, but the raw, crunchy form is what you want for this salad. (Oh and if you like roasted turnips, they make delicious fries!)

Family Gifts, Made Delicious

My dad gave me the turnips. After he grew a great big patch of turnips last year, he had plenty to share. I told him I wanted none, but dad brought me some anyway. Now that I finally quit being stubborn and tried them, I’m so happy I did. I first took a thin slice. And I thought, hey that tastes kind of like a radish. I like the crunch. And the little zip.

So I began to think what flavors would best complement this zesty little vegetable. And I decided a sweet juicy orange would really make it shine. Not just any orange. The best tasting, sweetest little gem: a Cara cara orange. The flesh of a cara cara orange is more pink than orange, resembling a grapefruit. But the flavor is not at all bitter: super sweet, not too acidic, wonderfully juicy. Seriously, my whole crew has decided that cara cara oranges are the best oranges ever.

Additionally, my sister gave me honey and this lovely Persian lime infused olive oil for Christmas. That was exactly what this salad was calling for–just a light drizzle of a honey lime olive oil dressing. So it came to be.

So it feels to me like this salad is made of love. My dad and my sister provided the key ingredients. All I had to do was figure out how to pull it together.

Cara Cara Orange & Turnip Salad with honey lime dressing & pistachios

Author: Ann
Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 15 min
Yield: 1 – 4 servings 1x
Category: Salad
Method: Chopped
Cuisine: Fusion
Diet: Vegan

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Ingredients

Scale

For the dressing:

1 Tablespoon lime infused olive oil – OR 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil + zest of 1/2 a lime and 1 teaspoon lime juice
1 Tablespoon honey
1/2 Tablespoon white wine or rice vinegar
a pinch of EACH: salt, pepper and ground ginger

For each salad:

About 1 cup kale or other greens of choice
1 cara cara orange, peeled & sliced sideways (or segmented)
Several thin slices of turnip, chopped into sticks
A sprinkle of Aleppo pepper
Roasted, salted pistachios, shelled & chopped

Instructions

Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
If using kale, remove the rib, then spray or drizzle just a tiny bit of olive oil on the green leaves. Massage the kale leaves until they are bright green and have lost their bitterness. Chop and use the greens to make a bed for your salad.
Arrange the orange slices or segments on the greens. Sprinkle with turnip shards, then a bit of aleppo pepper, and finally the pistachios.
Drizzle with a small amount of the dressing … you don’t need much! Enjoy.

Notes

You’ll have enough dressing for 2- 4 salads, depending on how much you use per salad.

RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2022, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.

Keywords: Turnip, Orange, Kale, Olive Oil, Low calorie, Gluten free

Looking for more salad recipes?

I’m a huge fan of salads and love to elevate them from boring to “can’t-wait-to-eat” status. Here are some of my favorite winter/early spring salads. Scroll down under the gallery for the links to the recipes.

Gluten free Heart healthy Honey Lime Olive oil Orange Pistachio Turnip Vegan Vegetarian

Sumptuous Recipes for a Healthy Life

Simple but Sublime: Cara Cara Orange & Turnip Salad