Roasted Radishes and Greens

I must admit that when I saw the big bundle of beautiful red radishes in my CSA basket, I considered swapping them for something else. Because I picked up my basket on the later side, the items in the trade-in basket included several bunches of radishes. Obviously, others weren't fond of radishes, either. I like radishes, I really do, but there are only so many you can eat in a sitting. I like them whole on their own or sliced in my salads but I was nervous about getting "stuck" with eating the whole bunch by myself. I certainly don't need to eat that many radishes. My kids have tried them in the past but thought they were too spicy so I knew I couldn't count on them to help me out. What to do, what to do...

Well, while I was at the farm, I decided to keep ALL my fruits and veggies and look for recipes later. I knew that'd be a great opportunity to expand my veggie horizon and try new dishes that I normally wouldn't try on my own. These baskets are going to "force" us to eat more veggies...I LOVE IT! Bring on the veggie challenge!

After the fruits and veggies were put away, I went on my fave recipe site, foodgawker.com, to look for a radish recipe. I knew there had to be something I could do with them other than eating them raw. I wanted to serve them so my fam would eat them, too. I found a recipe! Big thanks to The Bitten Word for posting the recipe. They rocked my radish world and I got the kids to eat radishes with me. YAY! My 8 yr old liked the radishes but didn't care for the greens, however, my 6 yr old and I ate this dish up, greens and all! Delish!

Roasting the radishes mellowed out the spiciness.

Roasted Radishes and Radish Greens

Yield: 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

• 3-4 bunches small radishes with greens
• 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbs butter
• 2 tbs fresh lemon juice (I forgot to add this)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.*
2. Wash radishes and the greens really well and pat dry. Remove greens from stems, chop and set aside. Cut radishes in half but cut into quarters if you don't want any hint of radish spice.*
3. In medium-sized ovenproof skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Add radishes, salt and pepper and cook about 3-4 mins until lightly browned.
4. Transfer skillet to oven and roast radishes for 15 mins or until crisp-tender.
5. Return skillet back to burner and add butter. Add radish greens and stir well in the butter/radish mixture. Cook about 2 mins or until radish greens are wilted.
6. Add lemon juice, season with a little more salt if needed and serve immediately. ENJOY!

Notes: The Bitten Word roasted radishes at 500F and mentioned the radishes lost their spicy zing and ended up tasting like roasted turnips. I still wanted a hint of zip for myself so I left my bigger radishes halved but quartered the others so they would cook through for my kids. I knew they would eat non-spicy roasted radishes...and they did. :)

Source: Adapted from The Bitten Word