One of the reasons I love growing vegetables is it forces me to be more creative with cooking. And sometimes you discover wonderful things you never would have tried otherwise. This recipe is a great example. My cucumber limeade is another one (this answers the question what to do with all those cucumbers besides pickling). Just had some cucumber limeade, yesterday for the first time this season.
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| A few of our radishes harvested a few weeks a go (and one beet) |
I've never had a lot of radishes so I don't really know how to use them, but I had seeds I got crazy cheap and they grow so fast I had to plant them. Well they did well and we have lots of huge perfect radishes. Cool! Wait, what do I do with all these radishes? I'm sure if you garden you've had moments like these. I only use them for salads....so...hmm? I remembered that while watching the cooking show One Plate at a Time that in Mexico they put pickled radishes on tacos. So I thought, hey why not pickle them? Turns out they love them in France too. I've learned a good way to judge if something is worth trying is to do some research and see if anyone else has tried it and is it popular. Check check! Sounds good.
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| starting to chop the radishes |
I developed the recipe by researching many recipes. It seems most have 1 part water to 1 part vinegar with various spices. I chose apple cider vinegar because I had a lot of it. You can use whatever vinegar you prefer. I like to play on the sweet, savory, salty, and spicy flavors whenever I can, since out taste buds are hardwired for these flavors. I chopped mine into small pieces so that it would be easy to add to things like tacos, sandwiches, etc. You could chop it more roughly or slice it with a mandarin or food processor if you prefer.
Pickled Radishes
(makes 2 pints)
Ingredients
1 cup organic apple cider vinegar
1 cup filterd water
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons granulated sugar or honey
10-13 medium radishes chopped into small pieces
1
teaspoon red pepper flakes or add
1 chile pepper, split lengthwise (optional)
½ teaspoon mustard seed
Directions
1. If using long radishes, peel them. Trim off the leaves and roots and dice
2. In a non-reactive saucepan, bring the water, vinegar, red pepper flakes,
mustard seed, salt, and sugar or honey to a boil, until the sugar and salt are
dissolved. Remove from heat and add the garlic and chile, if using.
3. Pack the radishes in a clean pint-sized jar, and pour the hot liquid over
them, adding the garlic and chile into the jar as well.
4. Cover and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.
Storage: The radishes will be ready to eat after 24 hours.
During storage, the liquid will turn a nice rosy color and flavors -such as
garlic and hot peppers – will get stronger. I have heard that pickled radishes can be kept in the
refrigerator anywhere from one week up to one month.
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