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