Last week I brought home a veritable feast. I've been plowing through new recipes and culinary adventures, none of which involve meat.

I'm not opposed to meat mind you. I crave an Inferno burger from MoJoe's time to time and even spice up the cholesterol by indulging in onion rings once in a while. Once. In. A. While.

Neither my waistline nor my aging heart can handle that lack of nutritional integrity on a regular basis. But dang, my tastebuds need to be coddled every now and then. I digress...

For the last week or so I've been preparing vegetarian meals, not by choice but by happenstance. Our plates are so loaded with goodness that there's no room (and no need) to add anything else.

Believe it or not, turnips are a crowd favorite.

Turnips.

You heard me. I said TURNIPS.

And most nights I don't even cook 'em.

Here's what I like to call my CSA Salad:

• Quarter and thinly slice one large turnip into bite size pieces.
• Peel and seed a cucumber. Slice into little bite size half moons.
• Now here comes my one cheater ingredient. Add one sliced avocado, cut into pieces that are uniform with the turnip and cuke.
• Add the zest of one lemon (stop grating at the yellow lest you get that bitter white pith!).
• Now add the juice of that lemon.
• Grate some fresh black pepper on top, give it all a gentle stir, and refrigerate for 30 minutes or so. Serve cold.

No salt. No oil. No Hidden Valley ranch.

I'm telling you, this crunchy goodness is a fine palate cleanser and compliments any meal. In fact, we just served it alongside an Indian feast of dal, palak paneer, and whole wheat naan. I added some chopped fresh cilantro to make it better suit the Indian flavors.

And no one missed the meat.

Ilina cooks up her rants and ramblings at Dirt & Noise and Deep South Moms too. She loves to cook, eat, read, and travel. The stars align when she can do all at the same time.