T his radish is so radiantly purple that it needs a bite. In India, we eat radishes and daikons raw because they are the best friends of our gut. They say that the one who eats Raphanus sativus, which is radish, on a daily basis, you will not suffer from hemorrhoids. So why don't we take radishes and avoid the pain in the butt? Move your hands, keep your heart healthy. Dill and radish are your best gut friends. This bite is for the spring for 100 years of healthy gut.

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Ingredients

• About 10 radishes · purple, red, or daikon
• 1 tablespoon dill seeds · crushed
• 1 cup cooked beans · white or cannellini
• A squeeze of lime
• A small handful of pistachios
• Goat cheese · to spread
• 1 pita bread · sourdough, if you can
• A pinch of salt

Method. Grate the radishes by hand. Crush about a tablespoon of dill seeds. Put salt on the beans, squeeze a little bit of lime juice, add some pistachios on top. Heat up one of the pita breads on the burner. As it exposes to heat, turn different areas of it and it becomes very fluffy and soft. Tear apart a little portion to make a small pocket. Put the goat cheese inside, then the spice mix of dill with the seeds, then the radish, then the beans with the pistachios. Gently wrap it. Press it so the pita bread kind of becomes soft. Cut it into one half. Take a bite.

"In India, we eat radishes and daikons raw because they are the best friends of our gut. They say that the one who eats Raphanus sativus on a daily basis will not suffer from hemorrhoids. So why don't we take radishes and avoid the pain in the butt?"

Clinical Notes

Rasa: katu (pungent), tikta (bitter). Virya: ushna (warming). Classical Ayurvedic deepana and pachana, kindling agni and supporting digestion of fats. The pungent isothiocyanates in fresh radish move the bowels and support clean elimination, which is why the daily-radish-eater is said to be free of hemorrhoids. Every culture from Japan to the Mediterranean to Lebanon to East Africa to India has built a dish around it. Radishes are ancient.

"Dill and radish are your best gut friends. If you know when the kids have the colic pain, what do they give them is this liquid called gripe water. And that is what the dill gives. It's a soothing effect on the gut."

Clinical Notes

Rasa: katu (pungent), tikta (bitter). Virya: ushna (warming). The volatile oil carvone is the active that calms intestinal spasm and infant colic, the exact action gripe water trades on. Classical use is for vata in the gut, the unpredictable pain and bloating that visits when fluids and air move out of sync. The seed is crushed, never powdered, so the oil stays in until the moment you smell it.

Why eat radish daily?

"In India, we eat radishes and daikons raw because they are the best friends of our gut. They say that the one who eats Raphanus sativus on a daily basis will not suffer from hemorrhoids. So why don't we take radishes and avoid the pain in the butt?"

Why grate by hand?

"You can do it with a food processor too, but I always... The study is to show that one who uses, or people who use their hands a lot, live longer. So move your hands, keep your heart healthy."

What does dill do for the gut?

"Dill and radish are your best gut friends. If you know when the kids have the colic pain, what do they give them is this liquid called gripe water. And that is what the dill gives. It is a soothing effect on the gut. So this and this are going to be so good for the gut bacteria and also for gut fiber that we need."

Is this a complete meal?

"It may not look very attractive, but the taste is phenomenal. So this can be a complete meal in itself. The flavor, the smell, the dill is so unmistakably aromatic."

What does the radish do for spring?

"Every culture eats radish. Japanese, Mediterranean, Lebanese, African, Indian too, we eat radishes. Radishes are ancient. This bite is for the spring for 100 years of healthy gut."