CSA Veggie of the Week: Radish


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I鈥檝e spent way too much time thinking about radishes this week. In fact, I looked in about six cookbooks and through an online database and came up with relatively few recipes.

Here鈥檚 what I鈥檝e concluded about the golf ball鈥搒ize item: It鈥檚 the tofu of vegetables. It takes on pretty much whatever flavor you put it in, adding just the slightest bit of texture (crunchiness, unlike tofu鈥檚 relative mushiness).

That鈥檚 not to say it doesn鈥檛 have some value. I, for one, love crunch. And there are with pretty great names like Champion, Icicle, and my personal favorite, Burpee White. They add a nice peppery flavor to salads, and when they鈥檙e saut茅ed in butter, they taste, ahem, buttery and delicious. (Honestly, though, what cooked in butter doesn鈥檛 melt in your mouth?)

If you do end up with radish bunches in your weekly CSA share, a few things to know. You can eat the greens. The plant is part of the mustard family, and according to , can aid in digestion. Refrigerated and wrapped, radishes can last for up to a week, states the . 鈥淏oth summer and winter radishes store well in the refrigerator once the tops have been removed. The radish leaves cause moisture and nutrient loss during storage. Store greens separately for two to three days.鈥

During our first few share pick-ups, we got about a dozen radishes. My favorite preparation came from a Cooks Illustrated recipe that combined a couple cucumbers, half a dozen radishes, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and 1/3-cup plain yogurt. (Unfortunately, that magazine鈥檚 website is subscription-only so we can鈥檛 include the link. E-mail me separately if you want more specifics.) We paired the side dish鈥攚hich hinted of tzatziki flavor鈥攚ith branzino, a light white fish we pan-cooked.

We also tried a dish from David Chang鈥檚 Momofuku cookbook that paired snow peas and radishes in an Asian-style sauce. It was good, but again, it felt like all the radishes added was some crunch. Apologies to the radish enthusiasts among you, but I probably won鈥檛 seek out this vegetable any time soon.

That said, here are a couple recipe options, if you鈥檙e so inclined to try: 

, Martha Stewart (Note: this is another option to the Chang recipe referenced above)
, Martha Stewart
, The New York Times
, Bon App茅tit

On a side note, in Wednesday鈥檚 New York Times, there was an article called 鈥溾 that summed up how some people feel when they get their green haul. 鈥淰egetable anxiety,鈥 the article reads, 鈥渃an strike anyone at this time of year: CSA subscribers, compulsive farm-stand stoppers and even vegetarians.鈥 I just point that out to say you鈥檙e not alone and hopefully we can help you through a small piece of your vegetable journey.