Pink Radish and Cucumber Salad

And speaking of eating pretty ... here’s a delightful little salad that is lovely any time of day during these warmer months. It’s a spin-off of the traditional pressed salad, which is a Macrobiotic staple. Pressed salads are composed of finely sliced vegetables that get massaged in sea salt (and often lemon juice) as a means of pre-digesting the crunchy vegetables for you—making the raw salad easier to digest.

Here, we used stunning pink radishes and crisp cucumbers from the farmer’s market, plus a bit of fennel from the backyard (ah, California living!). Tossed in our spicy Lunigiana Olive Oil and a squeeze of lemon juice, it’s a refreshing salad that’s easy on the stomach and yummy in the tummy.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced

• 2 cucumbers, thinly sliced

• ¼ cup finely chopped fennel fronds (may substitute fresh parsley or mint)

• 1 tablespoon Lunigiana Olive Oil

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• Sea salt, to taste

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; toss well and massage vegetables gently until well moistened. Serve immediately or allow to sit, covered, about an hour for flavors to mellow.