..ff
I love this salad. You get the daikon ribbons just by using a vegetable peeler — they come off in wonderful little strips. You then rinse them in cold water, which really improves their taste (I think it rids them of that property that many people find unpleasant: that bitter, superradishy taste). Blot dry in a tea towel.
That’s the base — you can then add whatever. Here I’ve added pomegranate arils — is there ANY dish that isn’t improved with pomegranate arils? — avocado, some orange bell pepper strips, and some cooked edamame I had in the fridge. Dressing of choice is a combo of some neutral oil (walnut oil is one of my faves, as is avocado oil) plus a tiny drizzle of sesame oil. And a squeeze of lemon (or yuzu, or other citrus of choice) for tang. Dust with s&p. Inhale, feel great. Top off with a cup of matcha for the full antioxidant high!
Wow, you may have actually convinced me to take Daikon at my next Winter CSA pick up. In 3 years I have only taken them once and we ended up leaving them on the lawn for Santa's reindeer on Christmas eve. I loe expanding my food repertoire.
Thanks
Robin
Eric, i keep forgetting to tell you that I've made this salad three times now. It's delicious. The first two times were for dinner guests, and I wasn't sure how they'd feel about the bitterness of daikon, so I substituted jicama (look at me! I thought while doing it, I'm getting all Breakaway and everything!). The third time, I made it with daikon. Both versions are great-as I expected, the jicama was sweeter, and blended nicely with the lemon and avocados. The daikon wasn't too bitter, and held a nice contrast with the sweetness of the pomegranate arils.
Talk about an impressive, easy, and really delicious salad!
Thanks,
Jeff
Excellent salad…my kind of good eats!! I make a similar one that I call Mandoline Salad. It's basically the same kind of idea…anything you can julienne with a Mandoline…Diakon, carrot, cucumber, zucchini…then garnish with anything else you may have on hand….peppers, toasted nuts, fresh herbs, heirloom tomatoes, any kind of fruit like apples, pears, satsumas, mango (and I TOTALLY agree that pomegranate is good in ANYTHING). Then dress it with whatever else you have…oils, vinegars, Asian sesame dressing, etc.
Beautiful colors for a super tasty salad! It looks like the perfect winter salad refreshed by summery avocado. Though I'll have to wait until next fall for pomegranate…
Jeff, the jicama sub is inspired, must try! Always on the lookout for ways to use more jicama….
Curt, thanks, and welcome! Definitely some similar tendencies… I use my benriner pretty much incessantly. Hate the big ugly nasty dangerous French mandolins though, guaranteed to bleed you dry in dramatic fashion! (and I mean that quite literally, not in the sense that they're expensive!)
And dear Alice — next year, freeze as many pom arils as you can before the season runs out; they freeze quite well.
I love salads and make them different all the time, inspired by what I have or what I see in the store: corn, beans, red cabbage, zuchinni, fennel, leeks, artichoke hearts, edamame, Love Love love hearts of palm wrapped in prochutto then sliced into discs, red onion, radishes, peppers (red, orange, yellow), broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery – love the crunch of celery. Sometimes nuts, cheeses and herbs (basil, calantro, dill). sometimes meats or shellfish, roasted red pepper, olives, pickles cut up. OMG, I could go on – summer squash, ohhhh mushrooms of course. My salads are never the same and people do comment on my salads! Sometimes simple with only three or 4 ingrediants, sometimes a lot more – love color so that sometimes drives me. I always make more then I expect because I do get carried away. Same with the dressings, I like to play with ingrediants for the dressing.