Just
5 weeks after I direct sowed some cold tolerant seeds in the garden and I've got my first harvest! I was doing some weeding and noticed the radishes looked a bit crowded and some were poking right out of the garden. I swear when I was poking around in there last week they were only the size of a dime. Now they are as big as any radishes you'd find in the grocery store!
I love radishes. I usually just eat them plain with salt or sliced thinly in a salad. I also love a quick little radish pickle or
salad atop tacos. Maybe it's all the rain we've been having but these were especially juicy and refreshing but still had lots of crunch. They were literally bursting in my mouth. Tonight we had them with some carnitas in tacos and they were the perfect match to the soft pork and tortillas. I use
David Lebovitz's carnitas recipe, it's one of the best I've tried and never disappoints.
These radishes also have lovely greens on the top that I hate to waste so I put out the call on twitter and facebook for ideas of what to do with them. I got a lot of ideas:
radish leaf pesto, sauteed with garlic like chard or spinach,
potato and radish leaf soup and with chard leaves in a gratin. Tomorrow morning I plan to try them sauteed and served with some scrambled eggs. I've also been reading and hearing a lot about
braised and
roasted radishes so intend to try cooking them soon and with the number I planted in the garden there will be plenty of room for experimentation. Stay tuned folks - the garden harvesting is beginning already!
Have you harvested anything yet? Braised radishes? Got recipes to share? Let me know in the comments.
