Category: Daikon

This is a fantastic crunchy, winter salad template. The key is to chop everything more or less the same size and to not skip or skimp on the toasted peanuts.  ... Read more »

  [caption id="attachment_19384" align="aligncenter" width="660"] Chicken and lots of veg in this version.[/caption] My son loves this dish and it's a pretty quick weeknight dinner. It's a great way to use (up) any number of vegetables. It calls for a higher ratio of vegetables than might be typical and you can certainly use fewer. [caption id="attachment_21828" align="aligncenter" width="660"] Straight chicken version with lots of scallions and cilantro.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_17922" align="aligncenter" width="660"] Tofu version[/caption]... Read more »

I happened to have a purple daikon (radish) and radicchio on hand as well as some leftover citrus dressing. I always try to have some kind of toasted nuts or seeds as well as fresh herbs, for exactly this reason. It's quick to pull together something really delicious. Radicchio, with its tight head of leaves doesn't really need washing making this even quicker than a typical salad.... Read more »

This is a bright, hearty salad with plenty of crunch. It keeps well, making it a good lunch-box or potluck candidate.   Whole grains like this take a while to cook, about an hour if you haven’t soaked them (which I often forget to do). But they keep well, so cook a big pot at the beginning of the week and use it in a variety of ways.... Read more »

A box grater (or grating blade on a food processor) can turn any number of vegetables into a form that will cook quickly, brown easily and absorb and/or combine with myriad flavors. It's a good method to have in your cook-with-what-you-have repertoire when you have random bits to use. It's delicious with a piece of good bread and maybe an egg or as a side to most anything. It's delicious the next day so make plenty.   Variations: Use any vegetable you can grate such as turnips, kohlrabi, sweet potatoes, potatoes, summer squash/zucchini, beets, broccoli stems. 1 stalk green garlic or 2-3 cloves garlic, minced Tender greens such as spinach, beet greens or mustard greens, finely chopped are a great addition, add toward end of the cooking time. Herbs like parsley, cilantro, basil or mint, chopped; add toward end of the cooking time. ... Read more »

This is a bright, fresh salad that is also good, topping a bowl of rice or noodles. I have a little handheld peeler that creates these lovely julienned strips. You can also use a mandolin or cut them be hand or you can grate the vegetables on the large holes of a box grater. You'll get a softer, juicier salad if you grated them but it's just as tasty.... Read more »

This is a gorgeous, robust salad that holds up well and nicely pairs with richer wintry dishes, stews, roasts, curries, etc.   This is one of the few recipes in which winter squash is called for raw. I used a kabocha squash here, but others work great too!  ... Read more »

These are quick and savory and will disappear as quickly as you can fry them.... Read more »

Radishes, dark breads, cheese and beer is a classic German (especially Bavarian) snack. This dish puts all these components (minus the beer and plus a few others) together into a salad bowl with a lively dressing.   Mix and match roots based on what you have/like. Thinly sliced celery root would be good here as would daikon or any type of turnip or rutabaga and non-roots like kohlrabi would be good too. ... Read more »

I love the crunch of watermelon, Black Spanish or daikon radishes in winter salads. They're refreshing and imposing and stand up to lots of different ingredients.   Adapt this to suit your tastes and what you have on hand just be sure to chop everything fairly small so all the ingredients integrate well.... Read more »

--inspired by Epicurious   This is a quick, fresh and tasty winter time pickle. It is quite pungent when you open the jar but the flavor is sweet and mellow so just open a window!   Serve it as a condiment with rice or stir fried meats or fish, eggs, or anything rich that needs a cool, fresh complement.... Read more »

This is a quick, delicious curry and can be adapted in many ways. Add a can of coconut milk for a richer and larger dish and serve it over rice. Use spinach or chard instead of mustard greens. Add ginger or pump up the heat with more chilies. ... Read more »

Daikon is a cold weather white radish that can range from mild to moderately spicy. It is in the Brassica family. It has a long, tapered root and can get quite large. It grows well in the temperate Pacific Northwest climate and is a staple in Winter CSA Shares and at winter farmers' markets.   Daikon is often a component of kimchi, the Korean spicy fermented napa cabbage dish/condiment. It is also commonly pickled and used in stir fries. It is crunchy when raw and both sweet and a bit spicy. It is quite pungent raw and can be overpowering when you open a jar of quick daikon pickles but it subsides quickly and the flavor is sweet and briny.   You can also roast daikon like any other root vegetable, tossed in a little oil and salt. It's nice mixed with other roots and prepared like this. [caption id="attachment_12409" align="aligncenter" width="660"] Germans like to eat radishes, similar to daikon with bread, butter, salt and cured meats and cheeses.[/caption]... Read more »

[caption id="attachment_14141" align="aligncenter" width="660"] I happened to have a gorgeous purple Napa cabbage for this batch.[/caption] --inspired by Heather Arndt Anderson   There are entire books on this wonderful Korean condiment and it can be made with many different kinds of vegetables, spices and aromatics. Here is a fairly basic version that uses the traditional Napa cabbage and various roots (carrots, daikon, other radishes). Kimchi typically uses gochugaru, a smoky, sweet and somewhat hot coarsely ground chili powder. If you don't have gochugaru you can substitute a combination of red pepper flakes (spicier than gochugaru) with some smoked paprika and/or chipotle powder. You'll want to use a smaller quantity to account for the increased heat level of the red pepper flakes.   Kimchi-making does not have to be exact, you just want to be sure to have very clean containers and work surfaces. 1 large Napa Cabbage (about 2 1/2 lb) 3 carrots (optional) 1 medium daikon or large watermelon radish and/or the "honorary root" kohlrabi 1 quart water + scant 1/4 cup salt Aromatics: 1/4 - 1/2 cup gochugaru, medium grind (ground Korean red chili pepper), depending on how spicy you'd like it to be 3-4 green onions/scallions – white and green parts, trimmed and cut into 2-inch length or 1 cup spring onion tops, chopped 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger (microplane works great) 6 cloves garlic, grated or minced 1/2 small apple peeled and grated or 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 1/2 small onion, minced 1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional)  ... Read more »