Happy New Year! I must say that come January 2, gifts passed around, ornaments strewn about, and merry friends seen, I am happy to get back to the real world…at least for awhile. My New Year’s Eve was a quiet one, dinner with good friends, a little sake and some good conversation. But come New Year’s Day, I still felt the need to cleanse the system of all of the holiday’s rich food and drink. And what better way to cleanse my system? With a lovely salad of course.

Now you knew that I wouldn’t ring in 2007 with a big bowl of iceberg lettuce, would I? So just what is this rosy salad that I threw together? A grated daikon salad, adorned with baby buckwheat greens, and shavings of purple cipollini onions, that’s what. I was feeling less than inspired when I arrived at the Union Square Greenmarket on Saturday, but a quick stroll around the market (which was surprisingly empty for a weekend), and stumbling upon a vendor with all sorts of fabulous root vegetables, got me to thinking about a Japanese style salad starring that smooth Japanese root vegetable– the daikon.

For those who have yet to try this radish, it can be found in many grocery stores and markets, especially Asian. With its creamy, but often dirty skin, and its mellow yet peppery taste, this vegetable is wonderful steamed, or peeled then grated. But beware, when peeled and grated, despite its delightful flavor, prior to dressing, the daikon does have a pungent, sulfuric odor. But what’s a little sulfur amongst friends? Just consider yourself warned.

Crisp and snowy, the daikon was awaiting a simple vinaigrette (both to mask the stench, and to complete the salad). A twist of lemon juice, a shake of rice wine vinegar, a dash of olive oil, a drop of toasted sesame oil, a bit of soy sauce, and an acidic vinaigrette was made, keeping the ratio of acid to fat about 50-50. The darkness of the vinaigrette tinged the daikon, taking the color from shockingly white, to a muddy beige, but when I added the feathery buckwheat greens, with their soft pink stems, and the ruddiness of the onions, the salad became less just about the daikon, and more a conglomeration of all three ingredients.

So there you have it, I rang in the New Year with a bit of asceticism. I have the rest of 2007 to make room for gluttony.