Never had anything but cabbage slaw? Try this radish alternative.

Ever heard of Radish Slaw? I hadn’t either. But I possessed a bag of leftover radishes (I mean, who uses radishes for anything except to garnish an occasional tossed salad? How does one ever use up an entire bag?) and saw that my trusty “Celebrating a Healthy Harvest” cookbook told me I could make an entire dish of slaw out of them. Had to try. Didn’t expect much, but had to try.

With Radish Slaw, radishes become the primary ingredient (you use 2 cups of them) instead of the traditional cabbage. Cabbage still is included in the mix, but the recipe calls for only 1/4 head. Grated carrots and diced red onion round out the ingredient list. A light dressing of lemon juice, sugar substitute, oil, and chopped cilantro is stirred in. The slaw chills for one hour before you serve.

The cookbook included an alternate dressing recipe that is the more traditional variety. I’ll show it below, but I didn’t prepare it. The light, lemony one that was the first choice was plenty satisfactory for me.

Bottom line was: we loved the new twist on slaw. The radishes certainly made for a different taste—a little more tangy and certainly more colorful. This was a great side dish with burgers and with the tuna-salad sandwiches we had for lunch yesterday. The slaw lasts for several days and only gets better the longer it chills in the fridge.

Radishes, I didn’t know ya had it in ya. A great alternative slaw recipe was born!

Radish Slaw

2 cups radishes, trimmed and coarsely grated

1/4 head cabbage, shredded

2 carrots grated (about 1 cup)

1 small red onion, finely diced (about 3/4 cup)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 tablespoons cooking oil

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped

In a large bowl combine all vegetables. (You may use a food processor to grate and shred the veggies rather than dicing them by hand.) Combine last four ingredients for lemony dressing and pour over vegetable mixture. Stir to coat all the vegetables. Allow salad to chill for 1 hour before you serve. Makes 4-6 servings.

Alternate recipe for dressing (use over slaw instead of the lemony dressing

listed above)

1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise

2 teaspoons prepared mustard

2 teaspoons vinegar

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 teaspoon dried dill

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

In a small bowl whisk all ingredients until creamy. Pour over vegetables. Allow to chill 1 hour or more before you serve.