Radishes and Radish Greens

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

My CSA is filled with radishes right now. While I don’t dislike them, I just never really eat them or know what to do with them. A bit of searching around on the web found numerous recipes for radish greens soup - the greens! Of course! I made the soup below for a quick and easy dinner. I also had green garlic and baby kale, so I made a sort of very chunky “tapenade” for the top of some crusty Metropolitan bread. Radishes, when cooked (especially in butter) take on a milder, buttery flavor. A great accompaniment to the soup, together using the whole radish!

Radish Greens Soup
serves 4

1 Tbs. butter or Earth Balance
1 Tbs. olive oil
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 green onions, chopped
2 bulbs of green garlic, chopped
Greens from 2 bunches of radishes
zest of half a lemon
6 cups of vegetable broth
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper
1 cup local or homemade low-fat yogurt

Heat the butter and oil together in a thick sauce pan over medium heat until the butter melts. Add the potatoes, onions and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the yellow onions become golden in color and the green onions soften. Add the greens, stirring well. Add the lemon zest and vegetable broth. Raise the heat to medium high and cover the pan. Cook the soup at a low boil until the potatoes soften, about 7 minutes. Remove the heat from the pan. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Blend the soup with an immersion blender, or in two batches in a blender. Return soup to the pan and stir in the yogurt until the soup takes on a creamy consistency. Garnish with sliced fresh radish.

Radish and Baby Kale on Toast

1 Tbs. butter or Earth Balance
1 bulb green garlic, diced
6 small radishes, thinly sliced
2 small handfuls of baby kale
1/4 cup vegetable broth

Heat the butter in a large sauce pan until melted. Add the radishes and garlic, cooking over medium heat until the radish softens. Add the baby kale and the vegetable broth and stir well. When the kale wilts and most of the broth evaporates, remove from the heat. Serve over good buttered toast.