Wheat-free * Dairy-free * Gluten-free * Paleo~~

I’m back!   The restorations to my apartment are done…don’t the floors look great?

and….I got a new stove!

 

And…not least of all…A new look for the blog.  I think it’s a cleaner format and I hope you like it as much as I do.

Now about this recipe.  I’ve taken a booth at an end-of-season party at my CSA pick up location.  I hope to sell a few of the zillions of copies of my books that are taking up space in my apartment.  I was kind of sad to note that most of the recipes in my first two books are made with foods I no longer eat (grains & beans).

One of my favorite recipes in “The Complete Whole Grain Cookbook” is/was WarmThai Beef Salad – but it was made with beef and cooked rice.  I started wondering if there’s something I could use instead of the rice?  The inspiration of using radishes came because I happen to have three types of radishes in my fridge this week (I got black and watermelon radishes from my CSA and I had bought red radishes in the market because they were too beautiful to pass up).  I don’t remember seeing any recipes that call for cooking radishes, but I figured if worse came to worst I could always just throw out the dish and start again.

You must have guessed by now that it worked splendidly or it wouldn’t be the main feature today!  In fact cooking tames the radish flavor considerably.  Look for more cooked radish recipes in the future.

ENJOY!

Warm Thai Beef and Radish Salad

 

Use any vegetables that you like to garnish the salad.   You can make this with any ground meat that you like – with the understanding that ground poultry will be somewhat dry and beef, pork, or lamb will be a little greasy.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups finely chopped radish (use any radish or combination of radishes you like:  red, white, icle, watermelon, black, or daikon)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound ground beef or other ground meat or poultry

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons coconut aminos (or soy sauce + 1 tablespoon sugar)

2 teaspoons fish sauce

1/2 cup chopped red onion

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (fresh coriander leaves) or parsley

2 cups lettuce, cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 cup radish slices

1/2 cup sliced cucumber

1/2 cup chopped tomato

Additional cilantro for garnish, optional

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and ginger.  Cook, stirring about 30 seconds.

Add chopped radish and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about  4  minutes.

Add the beef and red pepper flakes. Cook breaking up beef and stirring until beef is no longer pink.

  
 

Add the lime juice, coconut aminos, and fish sauce. Cook stirring until liquid has evaporated; remove from heat.

Stir in onion and cilantro.

Place lettuce,  on a serving platter (or you can make individual plates like I did),

Using a slotted spoon lift the beef mixture from the skillet, allowing an fat to drain off (or just pour the meat mixture into a strainer or colander and allow to drain)

Place the beef mixture on top of the lettuce.

Garnish with sliced radishes, cucumbers, and halves cherry tomato. Sprinkle with additional cilantro if desired.

Serves:  4