I don’t know about you, but when I started eating healthy, I had the palette of an unsophisticated six-year-old.
I had never even heard of half of the vegetables I found on my first trip to Whole Foods and it took months for someone to instruct me on the proper pronunciation of quinoa.
However, I’ve come a long way since then and now make a point to try to incorporate a new food into my diet every month. It isn’t hard to do since all my prior experiences involve corn, taters and lots of butter.
Up until about a year ago, I had never cooked with radishes. Now, they’re one of my favorite vegetables and I’m so excited to share them with you.
If you’ve never cooked with radishes before, one of their most rewarding features is how diverse they are. Similar to potatoes, it’s just hard to screw up a radish. No matter how you cook it, it’s probably going to to taste good.
Radishes, like carrots and beets, are root vegetables which means they grow underground. Although in theory, the whole plant is edible, most people focus on the bright pink bulbs that grow underground as opposed to the leafy bunch on top.
Because they grow underground, make sure your rinse your radishes very thoroughly before cooking them.
Roasted Radishes
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of radishes
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Thinly slice your radishes and place them on a baking sheet.
- Drizzle or mist the slices with olive oil before sprinkling them with salt.
- Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.
The roasted radishes are great as a chip substitute or a side dish to dinner or lunch. You can also cook up a large batch at the beginning of the week and use them for salads, stir fry and hot plates. So yummy!
Radish and Kale Salad with Lemon Parsley Vinaigrette
I told you radishes were diverse — so diverse in fact, that they can be eaten either cooked or raw.
Radishes are a simple and yummy way to add a pop of color to any salad as well as a crunch. If you need a little protein on your salad, try adding some sliced brazil nuts or a shredded turkey breast. Yum!
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of radishes
- 1 bag of kale
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon of parsley
- 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Peel and slice your cucumbers.
- Wash and slice your radishes.
- Combine your sliced cucumbers and radishes in a large bowl with your bag of kale. Toss well.
- In a separate small container, combine the juice from one lemon, the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper for your dressing.
- Drizzle the dressing over the top of the salad and then toss it again to coat the kale before enjoying.
Pot Roast with Potatoes, Carrots and Radishes
A classic pot roast in the slow cooker is always one of my favorite things to come home to. There’s nothing like the smell or the tender, melt in your mouth roast meat after it’s been marinating in deliciousness for six to eight hours.
Another great thing about pot roasts is that you can add pretty much any vegetable and it’s going to add just one more dimension to this explosion of flavor. Yes, even radishes!
Ingredients
- 1 roast
- 1 bunch of radishes
- 3 carrots
- 4 red potatoes
- 1/2 white onion
- 1/2 container of chicken broth
- 1 cup of water
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
- 1 teaspoon of oregano
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
Directions
- Slice up your vegetables.
- Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low heat for six to eight hours.
- Enjoy!
Beef and Quinoa Stir Fry
We’re a big fan of what we call “skillet” meals at my house. We love the crazy-awesome flavor combinations we can come up with as well as the no fuss clean up.
Radishes are one of our favorite wild card ingredients to add to a skillet meal. Give it a whirl and let us know what you think.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of quinoa
- 1 pound of ground beef
- 1 bunch of radishes
- 1/2 white onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 4 ounces of mushrooms
- 1/2 tablespoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of rosemary
- 1 teaspoon of oregano
Directions
- Cook your quinoa according to directions in a stock pot. Once it’s done boiling, drain it and put it to the side.
- In a skillet, cook your ground beef. Once it is fully browned, drain the fat off and return the beef to the skillet.
- Add your onion, radishes, garlic, mushrooms and seasonings to the skillet.
- Cook on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until the mushrooms and radishes are soft.
- Once the mixture has cooked thoroughly, mix the quinoa back in and enjoy lots of flavors and textures!
What ingredients would you like to see us try for our next Weird Food Wednesday?