Cooked Radishes with Balsamic Vinegar and Shallot

Radishes are a member of the cruciferous family and offer the same anti-cancer properties as broccoli and cabbage. Adding radishes, and all cruciferous vegetables, to your diet makes sense if you want to reduce your probability of a cancer diagnosis. Radishes and their greens are also a good source of vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant. Consuming vitamin C has been associated with a reduction in asthma.

I am not huge fan of raw radishes, but cooked radishes are another item completely. When you cook radishes they loose their sharpness and their flavor becomes mellow and soft. I make a number of different cooked radish dishes, but this one is currently my favorite. I like the subtle flavor of the Pinot Grigio combined with the white balsamic vinegar. You could use regular balsamic vinegar in this recipe but the end result will not be the beautiful pink color you see in my photo.

Cooked Radishes with Balsamic Vinegar and Shallot
makes 6 small servings

Ingredients:

2 large bunches of radishes, about 1 pound trimmed
1 large shallot
1 tablespoon olive oil (could substitute half a small red onion)
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup Pinto Grigio
¼ cup Italian parsley, leaves minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Trim away tops and bottoms of the radishes, reserving the leafy green tops for soup. Slice each radish into a bite sized piece. Peel the shallot and slice into thin rings.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy skillet. Add the shallot and cook, stirring, until it starts to brown slightly. Add the radishes, balsamic vinegar and wine to the skillet. Cover the pan and lower the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove the radishes to another container and simmer the juice left in the pan for about 3-4 minutes, or until it has reduced to a syrupy sauce. Combine the sauce and radishes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with parsley then serve. Can be eaten hot, warm or cold.

Comments:

The white balsamic and pinot grigio give the radishes a nice Italian flavor. The end result is a beautiful pink color, and a mild flavor. These radishes are always popular in my house.

Baltimore Farmers’ Market – May 17, 2009

The weather in Baltimore this morning was rainy and grey. However the farmers’ market was still bustling this morning at 7 am when we arrived.

Rudy at Cat’s Paw Organic had beautiful organic radishes this morning in both Ruby and Amethyst. In the picture at the top of the post the Amethyst variety is on the left. I love the color contrast. I also love the spicy hit of flavor you get from raw radishes. Radishes are also wonderful sautéed in a little stock with garlic, and finished with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. I especially love that they are part of the cruciferous vegetable family, meaning consuming them has been linked to a reduction in all types of cancer.

This was the first week for distribution at our CSA with Calvert Farm. Today’s distribution at the CSA was 8 shares. We picked up half a pound of fresh organic ginger, half a pound of shallots, two pounds of rhubarb, 2 pounds of asparagus, and a bunch of fresh spinach. They had so much beautiful produce it was tough to choose.



We also bought a couple of quarts of fresh local strawberries. The intense strawberry smell is so strong and fresh. It was hard not to eat the berries right out the container on the ride home. There is nothing like the taste of fresh ripe local berries.




I learned something this morning when we picked up our organic “hippie roast” coffee at Zeke’s. We asked for soymilk and they told us they don’t sell it because it separates if the coffee is too hot. I have had that happen in my coffee before and never knew why, so it was good to have the answer. Zeke’s provides rice milk for coffee instead of soymilk. Now I have a reason to make my own rice milk. I will need to see if I can do that in my soymilk maker. I love a good experiment.

Additionally Zeke's also carries loose unroasted Yerba Mate, and the price was good. Since we were almost out of yerba we grabbed a bag.