Recipe: A Radish Revelation Revolution

Well, Mr. Scrimp and I have begun to work our way through the massive pile of fresh local produce that came with our CSA yesterday.

And I have made an amazing discovery. I like radishes.

I say this as someone who has had a fixed dislike, if not loathing, for radishes, pretty much forever. They're like peppery, crunchy, raw potatoes--there is nothing I enjoy about them. I appreciate them aesthetically, but if you put radishes in my salad, I will eat around them and leave them sad and alone at the bottom of my bowl.

Until now. Ladies and gentlemen, you can cook radishes, and it transforms them into an entirely different food. I have become, in a matter of an hour, a radish lover. A radish aficionado. Someone who actively thinks about how I can possibly obtain more radishes.

This revelation was delivered to me via the newsletter that came with our delivery, which claims that people eat cooked radishes on sandwiches all the time in France. Intrigued, I gave it a try--and my only regret is that I didn't have more radishes.

And, because I want you to have this same experience as soon as possible, I am posting a recipe.




Radish Sandwich (makes 1)

Ingredients

• 4-5 radishes
• Butter and olive oil
• Salt (Sea salt or kosher salt, although table salt will do in a pinch... black truffle salt would be ideal, if you can find it, but around here it runs $4/oz so not exactly the best way to stretch a dollar)
• Romaine lettuce
• A mild cheese. Not cheddar.
• Balsamic vinegar
• A roll or baguette. We used a soft sausage roll, because that's what we got in our CSA delivery.

Wash and thin-slice the radishes. When I say thin, I mean thin. If you have a mandoline, this is the time to break it out.

Heat an equal amount of butter and oil in a pan. Saute radishes until they begin to get soft. Depending on the mouthfeel you like, you can pull them out as soon as they begin to soften, or let them get completely limp. We like it about halfway between those two extremes.

Turn radishes out onto a dish covered with paper towels, and blot the grease out as much as possible. Salt to taste. You'll probably need more than you think.

Pour a small amount of balsamic vinegar onto the bread, being careful not to add too much. Construct sandwich with warm radishes, lettuce, and a small amount of cheese. Serve immediately, share with friends, family, or significant others, and ask yourself why Americans always insist on eating their radishes raw even though we cook just about every other root vegetable we eat.