Plant-based diets?

[OakLeaf]

Drool. Drizzle cut-up onions (I slice them into crescents) and sliced potatoes with olive oil, add salt + pepper. Wrap in aluminum foil. Grill. Enjoy.

For extra deliciousness, alternate the slices of onion and potato so each takes on the flavor of the other.

[Owlie]

For extra deliciousness, alternate the slices of onion and potato so each takes on the flavor of the other.

That's pretty much what happens. Haven't made it in ages, though, since my dad's grilling experiments have taken over...

[shootingstar]

In the vegetable world, it would be useful to really expand one's repetoire of veggies. There's a whole world of veggies from Asian cuisines where if one likes exploring new corners of their world, to try:

fresh water chestnuts
fresh lotus root
daikon (white radish root)
gai lan
shanghai choy
bok choy
bitter melon
winter melon/fuzzy melon
and 3 other Asian veggies which I don't know the English translation. But they are available in major supermarkets.
_____________________ All of these above can be lightly stir fried, chopped up in various combinations. It's not that hard nor mysterious.

Try:
fresh fennel bulb
beet greens
brussel sprouts,etc.

I rarely eat potatoes. It's not my thing. That's all.

[OakLeaf]

Major supermarkets where there's a large east Asian population I suppose. We can get bok choy and daikon and sometimes yukina savoy locally in season, bok choy reliably at the grocery store and daikon occasionally, and that's it. Any of the other vegetables it's 70 miles to the nearest Asian grocery, and there, if the vegetables are even labelled as to where they were grown, it's in a language I can't begin to read.

I do love bitter melon though...

Joining a CSA is as great way to expand your repertoire of vegetables - you have to eat them whether you think you like them, or know how to cook them, or not.

Then there's just planting something to find out what the heck it is. I've got a short row of salsify just sprouting. My soil is pretty clayey and root vegetables don't typically do all that well, but I was tired of looking at the stuff in seed catalogs and having no idea what it tastes like. (Especially when some people describe the flavor as "oyster" and others as "artichoke hearts." )

[Catrin]

I've been trying to get a new veggie every week that I've not eaten before. This week it was Green Kohlrabi - surprisingly tasty both raw and roasted, there seemed a hint of horseradish. This is how I've discovered and come quickly to prefer Bok Choy and Watercress. I did save the greens from the Kohlrabi as I assume they are edible but I need to look that up.

I wasn't quite brave enough for the Daikon radish, I don't care for regular radishes for some odd reason. I do enjoy spice and horseradish so I really should like them...

[shootingstar]

I did save the greens from the Kohlrabi as I assume they are edible but I need to look that up.

I remember looking it up. I don't recall it being ok to eat the kohlrabi greens.

Ah I forgot about that veggie of my childhood. My parents grew a whole garden of it! Rediscovered with my partner. A sample of how I prepare kohl rabi..

Daikon, cooked will not taste "spicy" which I never thought the daikon I bought tasting spicy raw compared to the red radishes.

[OakLeaf]

Kohlrabi is a cole vegetable, and the greens are edible, but they're usually very tough. (Easily tested with a nibble.) The smaller inner greens are more likely to be tender. If the greens are as tough as usual, you can shred them and toss them in a stew where they'll cook for a while. Or just put them in the freezer for stock with the rest of your vegetable scraps.


My CSA posted a recipe for daikon pancakes, basically the same as zucchini pancakes. They were yummy, and you're right, cooking does take a lot of the bite out of the radish. I'm not a big radish fan so I was happy for that recipe. I ended up throwing all my red radishes into soups, too.

One thing I won't eat is radish greens. Yuk. I just put those in the compost heap.

[Owlie]

I've never found daikon to be spicy, even raw. Catrin, it's mild and almost slightly sweet, so go ahead and try it. It's pretty good with dip too--almost like chips because it's crunchy, but not bad for you! It's also good raw with a sprinkling of soy sauce for salt.

Shootingstar, at least in this part of Ohio, and even in Cincinnati (a more diverse city), we can only reliably get bok choy and daikon (and that only semi-reliably). If I were to drive down to the GIANT international grocery store in Cincy (which is inconvenient even from my parents' house), I might be able to find a bit more.

Oak, I actually cooked radish greens this evening...albeit in bacon grease. Not bad, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat them...