We're proud to feature "The Low Carb Good Life" by regular columnist Brenda Crump, who's also one of our smart and resourceful moderators at Talking Low Carb (our Low Carb Luxury Discussion Forums.) Brenda has found the keys to making low carb a true lifestyle, with proper nutrition at the heart of it all!

          

Ive been trying to think of a way that I could make my "Vegetable of the Day" discussions more interesting and more meaningful to our readers. I thought about coming up with a catchy, zippy title like, "Passive Aggressive Daikons and the People Whose Lives They Trash". Or perhaps a tie-in with a bit of pop culture would attract some attention? But the truth is that vegetables arent really an emotionally gripping issue.

Thats okay. If they are not emotionally gripping they do serve the very important purpose of nourishing our bodies and providing variety in our diets. And variety in our diets serves the very important purpose of preventing us from getting bored and eating off plan. Now that weve cleared all of that up todays vegetable of the day
is the non-passive-aggressive, non-threatening daikon!

The name daikon comes from the Japanese words for large (dai) and root (kon). Daikon is also known as Japanese Radish, Chinese Radish, Icicle Radish, and Satsuma Radish. They can grow up to three feet long and weigh up to one hundred pounds. The ones that you will find in your local grocery store or Asian market will typically be one to five pounds in weight and about eighteen inches long. I was surprised by the fact that they all seemed so large. Since I was just going to be preparing daikon for one, I was actually looking for something much smaller. The man working in the produce section that day just gave me a blank stare when I asked, "Do these come in a small?". He was even less interested when I informed him that daikons can grow to weigh one hundred pounds. Some people just dont share my fascination with vegetables, I guess.

When shopping for daikon choose firm unwrinkled radishes with a light colored, unblemished skin. You can store daikon in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to one week. The thin outer skin should be peeled away and the ends trimmed off before eating. The flesh of the daikon is almost pure white, crisp and juicy. Because they are so crisp and juicy, they will not make a convincing substitute for French fries, despite the similarity to raw potato. They are however, pretty nutritious. A one cup serving of daikon will have 6.39g of carbohydrate and 2.49g of fiber for a net carb count of about 3.9g. This one cup serving is also an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of folate and magnesium, not to mention that it provides 10% of your RDA for fiber.



Shredded daikon makes a great garnish, and is traditionally prepared with a vegetable-carving knife. A mandoline can also be used. The cutting technique shown above can be used for this and many other vegetables!

Daikon can be eaten raw, tossed into salads or shredded and combined with sour cream, mayonnaise and spices to make a dip for pork rinds or low carb crackers. You can create a refreshing salad by combining sliced daikon, sliced cucumber and onion and dressing it with a sugar free Asian style dressing try sesame oil, vinegar and Splenda. Daikon can also be used in soups and stews or sliced and added to a stir-fry. I tried several different cooking methods (which is how I know they arent wonderful as French fries) and I found that daikon is best when prepared very simply:

                                         

      Sauted Daikon and Red Radish Side Dish

(Approximately 4 servings, 7g carb per serving, 3g of fiber) 1 pounds daikon, sliced 10 red radishes, sliced 3 tablespoons butter Salt and pepper to taste Wash and peel daikon. Slice into rounds. Wash and slice red radishes. Melt butter in nonstick skillet over high heat. Add sliced vegetables and cook until tender-crisp. Season to taste.

This makes a unique tasting and very filling side dish that perfectly compliments the pork chop recipe also found in this issue. The flavor of daikon is very similar to the red radishes were all familiar with but without the "bite". They stay slightly crunchy even when cooked, almost like a water chestnut or jicama.

Daikon may be somewhat harder to find than more common vegetables such as zucchini or cucumber. You may need to look in a market that specializes in Asian foods. It will be well worth the effort because this is a vegetable that is perfect for our lifestyle low in carbohydrates, highly nutritious and an interesting change of pace!

                                                                            

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