This recipe appears in our last cookbook, The Blue Ribbon Edition…Ben Jonson, a contemporary of Shakespeare, suggested radishes be eaten before tasting wine to cleanse the palette.  I’m not sure how he arrived at that conclusion!  Historians tell us that radishes were first cultivated in China, and then popular in Egypt where they were fed to the slaves to keep them strong and healthy.

I didn’t know that radishes are roots of the mustard family vegetable.  I did know they come in reds, purples, whites and blacks, and can grow up to 100 pounds each.  And radishes come in different shapes too, and some are as long as 3 feet.

Eating avocado everyday will not make you fat, but it might lower your bad cholesterol.  Avocados help your skin look lovely.  Psoriasis is said to be relieved by eating half an avocado a day.  Avocado is also said to soothe inflammation, and topically, you can mash avocado and smooth over your skin.  Instant facial!  Just rinse off with warm water before you head out the door.

Serves 4                                                                

1 C grated carrot	¾ C plain yogurt
1 C grated daikon radish	1 tsp dried dill weed
1 C grated red radish	1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 ripe Hass avocado, halved, peeled, diced	6 cloves garlic, pressed
1 green bell pepper, chopped	1½ Tbsp tamari soy sauce

Using the coarse shredding disk of your food processor, grate carrots and daikon radish.  You can grate red radishes too, but I prefer to slice these.

Put all ingredients in a salad mixing bowl.  Toss.  Do a little dance while salad chills about an hour.  Serve.  You done good, honeybunch.

Blogging for dummies.  You all know I’m passionate about self-care. Why? We are smack in the middle of a health care crisis. There are simple things can we do.  We can choose certain foods or ways of living that will make us feel stronger, improve our general well-being, and thus cut the number of times we run to the doctor (thereby lowering health care costs).  I’ve been trying to share Grandma’s old-fashioned remedies in the Beacon Newspapers, but as we all know, papers are going through tough times.