Life Behind the Curve

I have been incredibly busy and stressed the last couple of weeks, in part because I’m in the middle of a 5 or 6 week stretch where I’ll be away from home every weekend. Weekends are the time that I meal-plan (yes, I plan the meals even though Scoot cooks them) and grocery shop so in addition to the fact that my house is a mess, my sleep is out of whack and my yard desperately needs some mowing and weeding, I get nervous about not eating well. Now, before I go any further, let me note that there are a couple of really awesome reasons why I’m not going to be around on the weekends, so I’m not complaining. But I still wanted to head down to the salad bar and meet some new veggies over a nice cold glass of milk. (Wait…what are we talking about?) 

Anyhow, my parents had received a delivery of their co-op produce while they were on vacation so my mom had plenty to share. Most of it I tried already or was lettuce and really? I feel like if I bring you all lettuce you’d laugh in my face. So I said, “F it. I’m gonna cook some radishes. I can just roast them, right? Toss ‘em in some oil and sprinkle on salt and be done with it. Right?” And that’s basically all I did. The end. You’re welcome. Oh, you want more? Ok… 

-EmmieJ 

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Radishes are root vegetables in the same family as turnips and mustard. I learned from some website (woohoo…I can say website without the AP style guide saying I’m wrong!) that I forgot to bookmark that one serving of radishes has as much potassium as a banana and as much ascorbic acid as an orange. They’re very low on calories and are mostly water. But pregnant ladies, listen up…they’re also high in folic acid! Woohoo! So…if you’re pregnant and you can’t stand taking those gawd awful vitamins because you burp and the nasty metal flavor comes up and makes you throw up, just grab a handful of radishes and go to town. 

Most people eat radishes raw on salads, but I had to be different. 

We got home from the Bay pretty late on Sunday but my MIL had given us a bag of cooked rice for the road and I had pre-cooked a meatloaf and left it in the fridge for just such an occassion. (I know us too well.) I threw together a “salad” of Romaine lettuce and ranch dressing (classy, I know) so everything was basically ready to go. 

As I was getting things out of the fridge and unpacking the random treats my MIL gave us (we also got Fuji apples and Rice Krispies treats…what can I say, she loves us), I preheated the oven to 375 degrees. 

I washed and trimmed the radishes. These are pretty small ones but the spring radish seasons runs from April until June so they were probably harvested on the early side. 

Fresh radishes.

I quartered them (or halved the smaller ones), tossed in a bit of extra virgin olive oil (not very much though…I was scraping the bottom of the barrel), sprinkled wish Kosher salt and popped them in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes. 

Wait…hold on…I lied. I really put them in for like 15 minutes but the rest of dinner was done heating up and we were hungry and it was getting late and I just had to get dinner on the table, ok? BUT, trust me…do the full 20 – 25 minutes because mine, while delicious, were not yet carmelized and we all know that the carmelization is the super yummy part. 

Not quite carmelized but still oh so good.

I put one on DJ’s plate and told him all he had to do was eat it. (He hates being my guinea pig.) A few minutes later I looked and it was gone. “Did you eat it or throw it away?” I asked. “I ate it,” he said. I was amazed I didn’t witness any the death scene enactments he usually puts on when I make him try something. “Does that mean you liked it,” I asked hopefully. “No.” Oh well, a mom can dream. 

As for me and Scoot, we both thought they tasted pretty good. I ate about half on their own and the other half ended up getting enveloped in my gourmet salad. Both ways were great. 

I’d definitely make it again. 

* Apologies for the awful cell phone pictures. Our regular camera was out of batteries and I was trying to hurry.* 

** Random tip for parents: radishes’ genus is named after the Greek word for “quick growing.” From seed to harvest only takes a few weeks so they’re an awesome plant to add to your kids’ garden.** 

***Question: My friend Chantel asked what a radish tastes like and I couldn’t explain it to her. Some website said it tastes like mustard and turnips but I’ve never tasted them (other than the liquid mustard variety…heh) so I don’t know if that’s accurate. What do you think? If you’ve tasted radishes before, what do you think they taste like?***