I love to shop at my local farmer’s market.
It’s fun to get swept up in the wholesome, friendly energy of the market.
Living in the city, it feels good to mingle with my neighbors–both human
and animal.
Tasting featured farm-fresh samples.
Chatting it up with farmers.
Discovering new foods to try.
And happily hauling home fresh, organic produce.
This week I found some lovely organic radishes, so I decided to buy them.
Red, pink, white, gray-black or yellow–radishes are available in a variety of shapes
lengths, colors, and sizes and generally categorized into four main types–summer,
fall, winter, and spring.
Radishes provide riboflavin, vitamin B6, magnesium, copper and calcium.
What’s more, they are rich in ascorbic acid, folic acid and potassium.
Low in calories, one cup of sliced red radish bulbs is approximately 20 calories.
Radishes have their own festival too!
The citizens of Oaxaca, Mexico celebrate the radish in a festival called “Noche de los Rábanos”
(Night of the Radishes) on December 23 as a part of Christmas celebrations.
“Night of the Radishes” is considered one of the most impressive vegetable festivals in the world.
Mexican craftsmen and locals carve religious and popular figures out of radishes and display
them in the town square and the winner of this competition is honored.
The festival continues on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with float parades, fireworks displays
and street dances.
This bit of folk history gave me a new-found respect for this relatively low-key root vegetable.
I realized that there may be more to the radish than meets the eye!
Relished for their crisp texture and pungent, peppery flavor, the bulb of the radish is
usually eaten raw.
I often add them to perk up my “mega” tossed salads with their bite, but I thought it would be
fun to prepare them a different way for a change.
Like me, the only way many people eat a radish is raw and often, just chopped in a salad.
But did you know that radishes taste great cooked?
Radishes can be found roasted, boiled, stewed, stir-fried or steamed in recipes and cuisines
across the globe.
They taste marvelous cooked and this roasted radish recipe proves it.
You can vary the quantity of ingredients to meet the number of servings you require.
Oven Roasted Organic Radishes
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 25 min
Ingredients:
1-2 cups organic Radishes-depending upon the number of servings
2-3 tablespoons cold-pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil or oil of choice–adjust
amount to your needs or preferences
A small bunch of fresh, organic Oregano
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat your oven oven to 375 F.
Remove the greens from your radishes and clean them thoroughly.
You can save the greens and saute them, if you’d like.
Then slice the radishes in half and place them in a mixing bowl.
Finely chop the oregano and it to your mixing bowl.
Use as much oregano as you’d like, depending on the amount of radishes
you have on hand.
You can also substitute dry oregano or other herbs, if you prefer.
Experiment with the flavors for best results.
Coat the radishes and oregano lightly in olive oil and place on a baking dish.
Add sea salt and pepper to taste.
Place in your oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until radishes are softened
and start to brown.
If you have larger radishes, you may want to increase your cooking time.
Remove from oven when done.
Serve roasted radishes with the rest of your meal.
Enjoy!
What are your favorite ways to prepare and eat radishes?
Share your thoughts and recipes with us?
“Shared on Real Food Wednesdays”
“Shared on Fabulously Frugal Thursday”
“Shared on Healthy Vegan Friday”
“Shared on Eating Inside the Box-Radishes”
Hey Deborah. Just hopped over to check out your lovely site and these radishes caught my attention! Radishes are one of my absolute favorite veggies for the many reasons you outlined, and yet I have never once thought of roasting them. Going to try this ASAP. Thanks for the idea 🙂
Oh my gosh, I had no idea radishes taste good cooked! I have loved them since I was a little kid and I’ve never cooked them. I’ll be trying this ASAP.
Hi Jen,
Yes, I know what you mean. I had been cooking daikon radish but I never tried roasting red radish until recently.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Enjoy!
You really hit on something here! It is easy to be overwhelmed with too many radishes if you only eat them as a garnish. Great use of an under used veggie!
Hi Deborah! This looks delicious! I just started a new series called Eating Inside the Box it would be awesome if you would share this with us! Please linkup any other recipes to any fruit/veggie category you’d like! Enjoy the harvest!
http://www.cultivatenourishing.com/radishes/
We made this tonight for dinner! AMAZING! Even the radishes that are usually too hot to eat raw were sweet and delicious! Great job Deborah! Thanks again for sharing at Eating Inside the Box!