Radish Salad and Cooked Radish Greens

A quick trip to the Farmer's Market yesterday brought these little beauties into my life.  Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of radishes, but my daughter loves them - even plain! I'm more of a fan of the greens sauteed. They have a delicious hearty flavor.

Even though I'm not a huge radish eater, these were some of the most beautiful I had ever seen! The farmer had washed them well and the colors were vibrant red, pink and purple. It delighted me to be eating something that someone took such care in growing and presenting at the market.

I decided I would make a salad of the radishes. I simply cut the green from the radishes, rinsed them, and cut off the ends. I sliced them thinly, put them in a jar, added some rice vinegar, olive oil, and kosher salt. I shook it all in the jar and let it sit about an hour before serving. The vinegar does a great job of mellowing the spicy flavor.

Since it's a very small quantity, and rather big flavor, I served the radish salad on a small garnish of green leaf lettuce in a little pretty stemmed glass, and sprinkled once more with kosher salt. The kid ate it in 2 minutes flat!

  

With the greens, I rinsed them, clopped them up, and sauteed in a bit of olive oil.  When the leaves started to reduce I added a little rice vinegar (a staple in my kitchen). When they reduced a tad more I added a teaspoon or two of Kerry Gold butter.  I tossed with a bit of kosher salt and ate them - in about two minutes flat!  They were so delicious, and probably one of my new favorite greens.

Remember, never throw out the tops to your veggies! Most are absolutely delicious with minimal preparation. Two veggies for the price of one!