Yesterday rain threatened all day, and there was some mist and bruine, but just enough to keep things damp. Then I awoke to the sound of hard rain on the skylight windows this morning. The garden is pretty muddy, and weeds are growing again. So are radishes, even though the leaves have been partially eaten by, I think, slugs.
Why do I care about radish leaves? Because they are perfectly edible, and actually tasty, even with holes in them. As Tim says, you eat around those. You can cook radish leaves like spinach. Or you can make pesto with them if you don't have basil. And they can be cooked and pureed to make good soup too.
I decided to cook the 30 or so radish plants I pulled out of the ground yesterday. It's not yet salad weather, so cooked greens are still tempting. The radishes themselves — the pink root — are like little turnips (same family). Drop some in a stew and try them. When you cook the radish, its sharp spiciness turns mild and the texture is nice.
P.S. I cooked them with shallot and garlic in a mix of olive oil and butter and a little chicken broth and white wine. Salt and pepper. The radishes made a nice side dish with a sauté de veau aux champignons.
I have never tried cooked radishes. In fact, I didn't know they could be cooked! I must give it a try one of these days, if I think of it.
ReplyDeleteHere, it's damp, but no rain, yet.
When radishes are abundant, with nice fresh green leaves, and not expensive, it's a good way to enjoy them.
DeleteI want to try this! I toss cut up radishes into my "refrigerator soup" and like them. A good idea!
ReplyDeleteSame idea, so you know they're good cooked.
DeleteHaving grown up munching on still-a-little-dirty radishes in grandma's garden, I am so wedded to their crunch that I haven't yet tried cooking them. I've read about sautéing sliced radishes in butter (and anything sautéed in butter is good, right?), but I haven't seen your method before. And I didn't realize the leaves were good. Great to know! I'll have to get some at the market tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI knew I wouldn't be able to eat the 30 radish plants I dug up yesterday, so I decided to cook them. They'll stay good longer. In the past, we've often made radish-leaf pesto when we've gotten radishes with fresh green tops. Just like basil pesto but with a different leaf, and it's good.
DeleteBoy, that looks tasty!! The holes just add air to a purée!!
ReplyDeleteThe cooked radishes and the fanes are both good.
DeleteNever would have thought to cook them :)
ReplyDeleteIf the snails think the leaves are good enough to eat, so do I.
ReplyDeleteThe snails seem to have bypassed the red root for the tender leaves above. The end result looks delicious.
ReplyDelete