Wake up your taste buds and boost digestion with this enzyme-rich digestive radish, carrot, and ginger salad with tomatoes. This quick and flavor-rich salad makes a great side to any meal, especially with slightly bland main course meals.
This is an heirloom recipe from my grandmother, passed on to my mom. My mom made this salad often whenever carrots and radishes were in season.
This crunchy digestive radish, carrot, and ginger salad with tomatoes offers a complex tongue-tickling experience. Radishes add a slightly sweet and hot flavor with a pungent hint of peppers. Ginger's similar flavor profile is somewhat matched and balanced by sweet carrots, sweet and sour tomatoes, and lemon juice.
Health Coach Tip-Enzymes and Health
Enzymes play a super important role in keeping us healthy. Some enzymes, such as metabolic and digestive enzymes, are produced naturally in the body, but raw foods are also a great source of food enzymes that help digestion [1].
Ingredients: enzyme- and mineral-rich
This digestive radish, carrot, and ginger salad with tomatoes have enzyme-rich ingredients that may help boost digestion. Here is the ingredient list for the salad:
- Radish: This root vegetable is a mineral powerhouse in various colors, such as white, red, purple, and black. In this salad, we have used moo radish. Radish is an enzyme-rich food and has been used in folk medicine as a natural drug against many toxic substances [2]. Aside from its health benefits, its sweet and peppery taste can brighten any salad.
Caution: Radish is a cruciferous plant and contains goitrogenic substances, which can decrease the activity of the thyroid gland [3]. Therefore, it's best not to go on a mono-diet of radish. If you have a hypothyroid condition like me, it's best not to eat this salad frequently. - Carrots: Rich in vitamin A and beta-carotene, carrots are a nutrition powerhouse. Their sweetness balances the slightly peppery radish flavor.
- Ginger: a natural immunity and digestion booster, ginger is high in antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory and anti-emetic properties.
Meal planning tips
It's best to make this salad fresh as radishes; once grated, it can emit a peppery, pungent smell in the refrigerator. Just make sure to purchase the ingredients for the salad.
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Digestive Radish, Carrot, Ginger salad with Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup radish (grated, any variety)
- 1/2 cup carrots (grated, ~1 medium carrot)
- 1/2 cup tomatotes (cherry tomatoes or Roma tomatoes are preferred, but any variety works)
- 1/2 tsp ginger (fresh, grated, can increase the amount to 1 tsp)
- 1/8 tsp Himalayan pink salt (or to taste, can sub with any other variety)
- 3 pinches freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
- 1/2 tsp homemade cumin powder (optional, sub with store-bought version)
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (fresh, ~1 large lemon, or adjust to taste)
- 1.5 tbsp cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Wash all the produce under cold, running water. Pat dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel.
- Mix grated radish, carrots, and ginger in a wide-mouth bowl. Add the chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Mix well with a fork. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Top with finely chopped cilantro and mix well. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can easily substitute radish with turnips.
- Substitue lemon with lime.
Nutrition
Resources
- Howell, Edward. Enzyme Nutrition. 1st edition, Avery Publishing Group, 1995.
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