On Wednesday we welcomed spring, the arrival of a new season’s CSA, and the first of many many many many many radishes. Can you sense my enthusiasm? Look, I love radishes — honest, I do — and I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I do have mixed feelings about the quantity I consume as a CSA subscriber. I’ve mentioned this before, so I won’t dwell, but I just find it challenging to work radishes into meals in substantial ways, in ways that make me feel I am getting more than just a yummy snack. Yes, I love eating radishes on buttered bread or simply halved and dipped in salt. Served with some canned fish and a few cheeses, I can call these preparations dinner and feel the radishes have played a significant role in the meal. But wouldn’t it be nice if radishes could pull a little more weight at the dinner hour? As I was unloading my CSA last week, I remembered a salad — an edamame and radish salad — we used to make at Fork for Fork:etc, (the prepared food, sandwich, salad, on-the-go part of the restaurant). During the lunch hour, this salad flew out of the case. High in protein, light, colorful, satisfying — what’s not to love?
Now, back then, edamame comprised the bulk of the salad while the slivered radishes and diced red onion mostly offered a little bite and color. In this variation, the radishes and edamame are in nearly equal proportion by volume, but the increased proportion of radish doesn’t dominate in any way — the salad is just as if not more so delicious. And the dressing is simple: equal parts olive oil and vinegar and a good sprinkling of salt — both the radishes and the edamame can handle it. It’s a cinch to throw together. When fresh peas and favas start arriving at the market, you can keep that edamame in the freezer. But this time of year, as a supplement and complement to radishes, edamame are hard to beat. Happy spring everyone. Any ideas regarding radish employment are most welcome. A few things to remember when dealing with radishes:
- If you trim the greens from the stem right away, the radishes will keep longer.
- Try to eat the radishes within a few days of receiving them — they shrivel up in the fridge quickly. A few ideas: this salad (edamame can be replaced with peas or favas when they start appearing); sliced in half and served with nice salt; thinly sliced and served with good bread, butter and salt; thinly sliced and served with good bread, butter, salt, and anchovies; halved, tossed with olive oil, seasoned with salt, and roasted at 450ºF until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
- If you have to store radishes in the fridge for a few days, use an airtight container or ziplock bag for both the greens and the bulbs themselves.
- Sauté the greens (see recipe below) on their own or save them and sauté them with other greens you might have on hand — beet greens, chard, watercress, etc.
This simple salad is made with sliced radishes, freezer-burnt edamame and red onion:
Snip the greens to preserve both the radish bulbs and greens longer:
If you leave the stem intact, you have a nice little handle to grab onto while you run your radishes down the plane of the mandoline:
Now for the greens: First, be sure to soak them in cold water for a few minutes so that the dirt falls to the bottom of the bowl.
Then let them drain — no need to spin them dry if they are going to be sautéed:
Toast some bread crumbs if you feel like sprucing up your sautéed greens:
Remove crumbs and set aside; wipe out the pan and place it over high heat; when it’s nice and hot, add some olive oil and immediately following, the greens; season with a pinch of salt; toss with tongs and remove from heat — radish greens wilt and shrink very quickly; add a splash of vinegar and toss; stir in bread crumbs if you wish and serve immediately:
Of course, you can always just stick to this classic preparation:
It’s seriously so good.
And if you’re feeling adventurous, you can ease up on the salt and top your tartines with a few anchovies — I read about this preparation in Chez Panisse Vegetables and couldn’t resist trying:
Incidentally, I recently purchased this salt cellar from Crate and Barrel for $9.95 and couldn’t be happier with it. I have been using it for my Maldon sea salt. I think a box of sea salt paired with this salt cellar would make a lovely gift:
Señor Pescado is delighted to have some company:
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olive oil greens (chard, watercress, radish, beet, mustard, kale, etc), any thick stems removed kosher salt minced garlic (optional — I don’t use it for radish greens) crushed red pepper flakes (optional) splash of vinegar
