Daikon Radish

This vegetable causes many people to ask, "What IS that?" It looks like a white carrot, but it is not a carrot at all. It's a daikon radish, great for salads, stir fries, and roasting with other veges. And a 3 oz portion has less than 20 calories! You can even cook and eat the greens! Fiberlicious! If you are into organic gardening then plant some daikon radishes alongside your cucumbers and squash to repel beetles from attacking these vegetables, alongside tomatoes to repel mites.

Scalloped Daikon and Ham (from December 2010 issue of Experience Life, page 32)

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (optional)
1 1/2 cups of cream
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 large daikon, sliced
12 oz. ham
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 and butter a baking dish.

In a saucepan melt butter over medium-high heat. Stir in arrowroot as a thickener (optional). Cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and whisk in cream. Return to heat and simmer while stirring. When thickened (if using arrowroot) remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Spread a third of the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish and top with half of the sliced daikon. Layer with half of the onion, half of the ham, and half of the cheese. Add another third of your sauce and repeat layers. Top with the last of the cream sauce.

Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 25-30 more minutes, or until daikon is tender. Serve with a salad to complete meal.