Radish Salad with Cucumber, Watercress, Orange Segments, and Sheep's Milk Cheese

Rettichsalat

Radish salads are common throughout Germany, but our new German Rettichsalat takes a few stylistic liberties. For starters, we use three types of radish: the common red radish, the mildly spicy daikon (a good stand-in for the White Icicle radish), and the colorful watermelon radish, which is visually appealing and sweet. The natural bite of the radishes is balanced by fresh basil, orange segments, and a simple citrus dressing.

Ingredients

Dressing

• Juice of 2 oranges

• 1 tbsp honey 

• 1/2 cup/120 ml cider vinegar 

• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil 

• 1/2 cup/120 ml grapeseed or canola oil

• 3 green onions 

• Grapeseed or canola oil for the grill pan 

• 4 red radishes, trimmed and quartered lengthwise 

• One 6-in/15-cm piece daikon, peeled and thinly sliced crosswise 

• 1 watermelon radish, peeled and thinly sliced crosswise

• 1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced crosswise into half-moons 1/2 in/12 mm thick 

• 1 lb/455 g watercress, coarsely chopped 

• 2 oranges, peeled, segmented, and seeded 

• 12 fresh basil leaves 

• 4-oz/115-g piece aged sheep’s milk cheese, such as pecorino romano

1. To make the dressing, in a small saucepan, combine the orange juice, honey, and vinegar over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool completely. Stir in the basil, then slowly whisk in the grapeseed oil until emulsified. Set aside.

2. Trim off the root end and 1/2 in/12 mm from the tops of the green onions. Preheat a stove-top ridged grill pan over medium-high heat and oil the pan. Place the green onions on the hot pan and cook, turning as needed, until lightly grilled on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, let cool, and cut into 2-in/5-cm pieces.

3. In a large bowl, combine the red radishes, daikon, watermelon radish, cucumber, water¬cress, grilled green onions, orange segments, and basil leaves and toss to mix well. Whisk the dressing briefly, then pour over the salad and toss to coat all of the ingredients evenly.

4. Grate the cheese over the top of the salad and serve immediately.