This recipe was given to us by Kate Hopkins when she had a salad stall at our Farmers' Market. Kate came up with this delicious pickle and then turned it to an even more delicious salad. She used turnips from Sarah Green's Farm in Essex.
First make the pickle using the following method. Peel & quarter the turnips, pack into a sterile jar with celery leaves, garlic and slices of beetroot at regular intervals. Dissolve salt in water, stir in vinegar, cover turnips with the liquid and seal the jar. Store the pickle in a warm place for a week or so until mellow in flavour, then transfer to fridge/cool place.
To make the salad combine all the ingredients, reserving some of the vivid pink turnip to use as garnish (it starts to lose its pinkness when mixed with other ingredients).
2lb white turnips
1 raw beetroot
a few celery leaves
2-4 cloves garlic
4 tb salt 1 1/2 pints water
1/2 pint white wine vinegar
For the salad:
8oz pickled turnip, chopped into thin pieces
4oz flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
4oz red onion, finely sliced
a handful each of walnuts, roughly chopped
dried cranberries
juice of a lemon
a little olive oil (do not drown it)
salt & pepper