Sesame-Marinated Spicy Radish Salad

We're about to embark on a wonderfully fun journey of Thanksgiving flavors, but is there anyone in your family that just loves doing weird, non-traditional things at the holidays?

Mine either.

No, really.  We're pretty traditional at Thanksgiving.

In the days leading UP to Thanksgiving, however, I love making foods that are decidedly non-holiday-ish. I don't know....it makes Thanksgiving more special or something.

I'm weird, ignore me.

I made this salad for my Dad and Jay a few weeks ago.  Jay wanted radishes with an Asian-style dressing, so, by golly, I made radishes with an Asian-style dressing.

I'm basically the best.

The dressing on these is really similar to the Asian slaw that I make all the time, and it's so delicious.  The spicy pepper and the peppery radishes are really sharp, so the addition of honey to the dressing offsets that nicely.

Here's what you need for this yummy salad:

• 2 tablespoons rice or white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons ponzu (or soy with a squeeze of lemon juice)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 4 drops fish sauce or ½ teaspoon anchovy paste
• 1 red chili pepper
• ½ seedless cucumber
• 4 - 6 radishes

These radishes are called watermelon radishes - you can see why! They were REALLY spicy, but any daikon or radish that you like would work beautifully.

First, make the dressing.  Add the vinegar, ponzu, sesame oil, honey, and fish sauce into a bowl and mix it all together with a fork or whisk.  Taste it, and add more ponzu if you'd like a bit more soy flavor.  I did this in a portable container because I was taking the salad to my parents' house for dinner - I wanted it to be nice and portable.

Now, prep the veggies! Cut the cucumber into chunks...

Then cut off the root and top of the radishes and quarter them or halve them if they're really small.

Note: if you want the dressing to be more prominent, and the veggies to soften more, thinly slice the radishes and cucumbers - it'll make the spicy radish flavor more mild!

Cut the chili pepper into thin slices - I took out the seeds and ribs, and the salad was still plenty spicy!

Now, we're all prepped.

I took the veggies and dressing separately - this would be a great make-ahead salad!  You could just add the dressing the day you wanted to serve it.

An hour or two before you'd like to serve the salad, pour the dressing over the veggies...

....and stir them all together.

Give the veggies a stir every 20 minutes or so to keep everything marinating evenly, and serve with your favorite grain and protein.

Yum!  This is so nice and fresh, and a great way to highlight radishes in a fun way.

Dinner idea:  Serve this salad with white rice, sauteed zucchini, and hibachi shrimp.  A SUPER FAST, super healthy dinner.  Perfect for a busy Wednesday!