Sneaky Radish

Is there anything more seductive than a radish?  No, really!  Sure, tomatoes are soft, warm and voluptuous; beckoning us with their supple skin and sweet juicy flesh…But the radish, she is a sneaky temptress.  In the ground, she taunts you, just flashing her green, slightly prickled leaves, making you wonder what’s beneath.  But once you pull her from the soil, that’s it, there is no ripening on the counter like a tomato.  What danger, what excitement!  Will it be a little nip of a thing, or a full, robust root, bursting with flavor? A tomato lays it all out right on the vine, no mystery, no imagination, where’s the fun in that?  With a radish, you don’t see what’s hiding under the soil; you don’t know what you’ll get.  

Radish Greens

After she's been picked, the red root looks rather unimpressive; perhaps slightly blemished, covered in dirt. You think it’ll be like any old root vegetable, right?  Rather bland, like a potato, or a turnip.  It will probably taste fine, but there won't be any fire coming from this wee radish.  Roots are what holds us to the ground, steady us, but surely there is no excitement, no pizzazz.  

Then you bite in, and out of nowhere, there’s that quick surprise of spice, zing and flare.  What flavor hiding in this unassuming little root!   

Recipe:

One of my favorite radish recipes comes from The Farm to Table recipe book by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann

Salad of Peas, Feta, Mint and Radish

2 cups shucked fresh sweet peas

2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbs red wine vinegar

1 tbsp local honey

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 radishes, finelinly sliced*

1 red spring onion, finely sliced

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves roughly chopped

1/2 cup crumbled feta (opional)

In a medium Pot of boiling salted water, blanch peas until just tender and bright green, about 2 minutes.  Refresh under cold water.  In a large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, honey and mustard.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add peas, radishes and onion; toss to coat.  Add mint and gently toss.  Sprinkle with Feta

Health Benefits:

Loads of vitamin C (1)

Radishes contain a group of compounds called isothiocyanates, which have been shown to effective against other cancer cell lines (1) (2)

(1) http://www.livestrong.com/article/413273-health-benefits-of-radishes/

(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20652750

Spring Greens

Well - a year reprise, but Frosty Farm blog is back.  The overwintered Kale and Collards bloomed like a dream in the spring, and I've been eating it a few times a week, trying to give away the rest.  As the first rays of spring sunshine fall on the Kale and Collards, they burst to life, and start to produce a flower.  What to do with all these greens - well, a gentle steam or sautee can do as a nice side dish, but one of my favorites is my "Spring Greens Pie"
 

Collards & Kale

Spinach seedlings from early April

Preheat oven to 375.

• Use about 15 stalks of garlic scapes, diced - otherwise use more onions/shallots, and add garlic to herb mix
• 1 or 2 spring onions, sliced (or ramps if they're still available)
• A bunch of collared greens, separated from the stem, and cut into slices.
• About 5 baby bella (crimini) mushrooms.
• Season with fresh thyme and rosemary cut up into tiny pieces, and add some cayenne pepper and cumin too

Sautee all together until the greens and onions are just getting soft.  I always cook these sorts of greens on med/med-low heat so that they cook in their own juices.

Meanwhile, beat 5-6 eggs.  And by eggs, I of course mean from chickens that live outside Grazin Angus Acres, for example.  And keep the yolks, folks.  Like my mother said.  Eating an egg without the yolk is like licking the outside of a glass of wine.  #truth

Butter the outside of a glass pie dish, and pour the eggs in, then add the greens, pushing them down into the mixture.  You can add goat cheese or some kind of melty cheese in chunks on the top if you'd like.  Pop in the over, and check every 10 mins until eggs are just set.  You can check by sticking a fork in the middle, it should come out dry.  It should take about 30 mins total, but remember that it will still cook a bit.  Let it cool, and enjoy!