Balsamic Braised Radishes with Leeks and Bacon
This is a great recipe to use with bacon ends too! The onion family ingredient is flexible as well, try it with shallots or red onion as well.
Ingredient: Radishes
Red Radish-
- Description- Radishes are small round bright red bulbs with a peppery flavor. Both the bulb and the leaves of radish plants are edible.
- Preparation- Radishes are eaten raw, thinly sliced on salads but can also be cooked in butter and even marinated or pickled.
- Varieties- Radishes come in red or black as well as the Daikon radish
- Storage- Chop off the greens before storing or they will pull the moisture from the bulb itself. Store them in the fridge in a bag for 1-2 weeks (Jess stores them in a bowl of water in the fridge to tone down the bite a bit). TIP- if your radishes become spongy, place them in a bowl of ice water for up to an hour to get some crispness back!
- Nutrition- Vitamin B6, C, Riboflavin, Calcium, magnesium, fiber, folate and potassium.
On pickup day, foil is Jess’ go-to method of cooking root veggies for use in recipes throughout the week. The beets here were drizzled in olive oil and kosher salt. The carrots were drizzled in Ben’s Maple Syrup and a pat of Amish roll butter. The radishes were honey roasted.
This is what Jess has after roasting at 400 for a spell. The carrots and radishes were done faster. Don’t forget to save the radish tops to serve with the radishes! This was a quickie version of honey roasted radishes, but check out this version for the most delicious full Monty recipe.
One trick we learned that comes in quite handy is that you can soak your radish slices in water to really cut back on the bite, or soak them whole, too. 
If you change the water regularly, they’ll keep for a while (these are from the 19th share box) and also lose some of that bite while still keeping their crisp. This makes them a great stand-in for the water chestnuts that you often find in a good spinach dip. Dice the whole radish, or chop up only the white centers if the pink color is off-putting to you in the dip
The first radishes out of the farm are always great! When they are small and tender like this, the greens are delicious sautéed.
Be sure to wash your radish tops very well, they can be gritty if not.
If you don’t like the chew of the stems, you can cut those off before sautéing and just use the leaves (Jess doesn’t mind the stems, so you see them here).
Fellow Springdellian and fellow blogger Crystal Rowe over at Soul Munchies has a few other yummy radish ideas to share, click here to read on!
Recipes Using Radishes
Crostini with Radish and Pesto
Approved by several radish non-believers at the Sunday dinner table, we all loved this one in all it’s simplicity. The crusty and warm baguette, the fresh pesto (we used cilantro, but any herb pesto may work), and the crisp and crunchy radish slices just worked. Try it, hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised as we all were!
Pickled Radish Salad with Honey-Lime Avocado Dressing
A quick pickle for your watermelon radish is a great way to get it to hold it’s vibrant color and crunch. The avocado adds a great creaminess that mellows the bite of the radish. Some crumbled goat cheese and nuts added an extra layer, because why not? Get creative with your radish!
