Daikon: Why am I so unappetizing?Sometimes...okay, almost every week...(but I'm getting better!) I have trouble identifying an uncommon vegetable from the box we receive from a local farm. And *sometimes* if I'm not sure what to make with the unnameable, I don't make anything at all...I toss it. (gasp!) It is definitely a tendency I have that I don't brag about and that Tyler has counseled me on a few times. I made a mid-year's resolution to stop wasting those unnameables: daikon, parsnip, mesclun, etc...
This morning, while flipping through radio stations I heard the word "daikon" and I stopped. Hmm, that root vegetable is being discussed on NPR. It must be important. So, I listened and discovered a great new program called "Farm Fresh Foods". It singles out a fruit or vegetable to discuss by sharing history, recipes, storage information and fun facts. I was happy to hear daikon is tasty when eaten fresh with miso paste or julienned for a salad of sesame oil, salt and pepper.
Maybe the daikon salad is delicious and I have no idea what I have been missing. And maybe not. But I won't know if I keep tossing them out just because I can't figure out what to do with the unnameables.
Thanks NPR for a fresh, new source on fruits and veggies
Marci
Okay so my favorite recipe for daikon is chop it into cubes and mix up some dressing with soy sauce, just a little vegetable oil, a little sugar, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. Put the dressing over the daikon and let it sit for about an hour. Yum, yum, it's tasty! The tip to making a good dressing is to taste it before it goes on the daikon, if it's as sweet and salty as you like it, it's ready. If not just keep mixing and adding until you get it right.
ReplyDeleteI usually end up snacking on it while I'm cooking something else so it rarely actually gets served as a dish at dinner.
Oh well, it doesn't really matter though because Ryan will not touch daikon. He actually won't touch much of anything that is white and crunchy. This has resulted from his incredible dislike of water chestnets (btw I looooove water chestnuts-- he's just crazy).
We have not seen much of anything unrecognizable in our CSA box lately. Summer has been full of melons, green beans, tons of tomatoes, and lot of bell peppers right now. Fall veggies are usually a little more interesting so I'll keep you updated on how we are using our funky fall farm veggies!
Yum yum, I am going to try that next time.
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