Three Ways With Radishes

The radish is something quite unbeknownst to me. It's not a vegetable that I have eaten much of at all, probably because it wasn't something that I tried when I was younger. But I always see them at the market and wonder what exactly can be done with them.
I always expect them to taste oniony because they look like some weird love-child of a red onion and a shallot.

But of course, they don't.

When I was talking about radishes with my friend the other day (you know how these things just come up in conversation), she likened them to the crunchy, slightly watery texture of water chestnuts. Which peaked my curiosity about them even more.

Ok, time to get a batch and start experimenting!

Crunchy Radish Rice Salad (v)

Everything in this salad is purposefully raw (well, apart from the rice), to create a satisfyingly crunchy salad. Lovely and fresh. This contains a bit of wild rice too, but you can use all basmati if you wish.

Print-friendly recipe

Serves 4:

125g basmati rice
75g wild rice
250ml hot veggie stock
100g radishes, thinly sliced
100g yellow pepper, chopped
75g celery, chopped
50g red onion, chopped
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1.5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Small handful of fresh chives, finely chopped

1. Put the basmati and wild rice in a pan with the stock and bring to the boil. Turn down to the lowest heat, cover and leave to simmer for about 15 minutes until cooked. Take off the heat and allow to sit.
2. Meanwhile, mix all of the veggies into a large mixing bowl. In a small cup, mix the oil, vinegar and lemon juice. Pour this into the bowl of veggies and toss well.
3. Add in the cooked rice, and mix everything together. Carefully stir in some fresh chives before serving.

Chicken and Radish Potato Curry

This is a 'dry' curry – in other words, not one that is caked in sauce. It is quite mild, as the spices are just cumin and turmeric with a kick of cayenne pepper, but you can adjust the taste as you please.

The radishes stay surprisingly firm after being cooked – no sogginess here, thanks. Also you can see, the potatoes are served separately to the curry but you can mix them together just before dishing up instead.

Print-friendly recipe

Serves 2:

400g potato, chopped
Bit of salt
1/2 tsp turmeric + 1/2 tsp
1 tsp cumin
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
250g chicken, chopped
75g radishes, finely sliced
50g courgette, diced
50g leek, sliced
50g red onion, chopped
75ml double cream

1. Put the potato in a pan with boiling water. Bring to the boil then turn down to the lowest heat and leave to simmer for 15 minutes until just cooked. Drain and toss with ½ tsp of the turmeric. Keep warm.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the remaining ½ tsp turmeric, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic, oil and lemon with the chopped chicken.
3. Heat a large saucepan and add the chicken to brown. After a few minutes, add the radishes, courgette, leek and onion, mixing everything well.
4. Pour in the double cream and turn down to simmer for about 5 minutes. Serve with the turmeric potatoes.

Nutty Radish Stir Fry (v)

I meant to toss in some chopped peanuts here too, to make this Nutty stir fry more worthy of its name, but I just forgot, sorry! But it has a good peanut butter sauce base so is plenty nutty with or without the actual nuts.

Print-friendly recipe

Serves 2:

2 wholewheat noodle 'nests'
1 tsp olive oil
75ml hot veggie stock
1 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
150g carrot, chopped into matchsticks
100g radishes, thinly sliced
100g spinach
2 spring onions, sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Small handful of chopped peanuts (optional)

1. Put the noodles in a pan with water and gently bring to the boil. Turn down and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes until cooked. Drain in cold water, toss in the oil and set aside.
2. In a small jug, mix together the hot stock, peanut butter and soy sauce. Set aside.
3. Get a wok on high heat, and fry up the carrot and radishes for a few minutes. Add the spinach and spring onions. Once the spinach has wilted a bit, mix in the garlic cloves.
4. Carefully pour in the peanut stock and turn down to simmer for about 3-4 minutes; keep everything moving.
5. Finally, add in the noodles and stir everything together well. If you wish, toss through some chopped peanuts before dishing up.