Daikon radish and cucumber salad

I enjoy making simple salads as a way to add fresh vegetables to my table. This recipe combines one of my favorite cucumber salads with fresh, spicy daikon radish and red onion. The dressing is as simple as it gets: vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, a small amount of sugar to soften the sharpness of the fresh onion and a bit of dill for added flavor.

I love the flavor of daikon radishes and I run to get them when they’re in season, but you absolutely can use regular radishes if that is what you have on hand.

Ingredients:
2 cups daikon radish, thinly sliced
2 cups English cucumber, thinly sliced
½ a red onion, peeled and thinly sliced, about ½ cup
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
A pinch of black pepper
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill or 1 teaspoon dried
Fresh dill to garnish, optional

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Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Thinly slice half of a red onion and add the slices to the bowl, mixing the onions well with the vinegar and spices.

Allow the onions to soak for 10-15 minutes, stirring the mixture occasionally.

I use a vegetable brush to wash the skins of the radish well; I prefer to leave the skin on the radish because of the vibrant color.

Thinly slice (meaning a few millimeters thick) the cucumber and radish; don’t slice these on a mandoline or they won’t keep their crunch for long.

Add the dill and the oil to the onions and mix well.

Put the cucumber and radish slices in a medium-sized bowl, then pour the oil and vinegar onions over the vegetables, turning them a few times with a spoon to get the vegetables well coated.

Garnish with fresh dill if desired.

Serve immediately.

Cover leftovers well with plastic wrap and refrigerate. This salad will stay fresh for about 2 days after making it; just keep in mind that the red and purple skins from the radish may bleed into the vinaigrette and lose their color when stored.

This salad complements a lot of main dishes; alternatively, it can have a Japanese flair if you replace white vinegar with rice vinegar and use red pepper flakes instead of black pepper. When I make it this way I also add about a tablespoon of sesame oil for flavor — just omit the dill.

Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.