A Rad Dish for Spring

Rad-dishes. Radishes. Get it? <slaps knee, guffaws>

Fine, fine, I’ll get to the recipe, which offers an homage to the much-maligned and underappreciated radish, whose reputation for bitterness and bite causes it to be passed over for more popular colleagues like the potato. With this dish – a warm salad that brings out the radish’s sweetness – I hope to show you why radishes are one of my favorite spring vegetables and persuade you to give them a(nother) try.

Warm Radish Salad

You’ll be amazed at how the couple of minutes of cooking removes the bite from the radishes and makes them tender and sweet.

Ingredients
1 bunch radishes, with green tops	1 Tbsp water
1 leek	Pinch of salt
12 or so sugar snap peas	2 slices lemon
1 tsp olive or other neutral oil	Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 5-10 minutes 2 servings

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1. Slice off the dark green top of the leek and save for soup or stock. Slice about 1 inch of the light green portion down the middle, then rinse under running water, making sure to get between the layers to remove soil and sand. Shake off excess water, then slice into thin half moons. Reserve the rest of the leek for other dishes.

2. Rinse the radishes well, taking care to remove any sand from the green tops. Shake off excess water, then slice the green tops from the radish roots. Remove any wilted or yellow leaves. Trim any trailing root hairs from the radish roots, then slice the roots in half.

3. Rinse the peas and string/top/tail, if needed.

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4. Place a skillet over medium heat and add 1 tsp of olive oil when the pan is hot. When the oil is hot, add the sliced leeks and saute until tender, 1-2 minutes. Add the radish roots and sugar snap peas and cook for another minute, stirring frequently. To retain the pinkness of the radishes, don’t overcook them! They should be softer than their raw state, but still firm.

5. Add the radish tops, 1 tsp water and pinch of salt. Stir to mix, then cover and cook 2-3 minutes, until the radish tops are just tender but still bright green. Immediately transfer to a salad plate, drizzle over the EVOO, garnish with the lemon slices and serve.

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Thoughts and suggestions:

• Because my motto is “Everything’s better with bacon,” I highly recommend adding diced bacon or pancetta with the leeks. Doing so will bring a smoky, salty dimension to the salad.
• Use asparagus in lieu of, or in addition to, the sugar snap peas. Slice into 1-inch segments and add them when you add the radish roots (and peas, if using).
• Serve with roast salmon and a cold vermentino for a gorgeous spring/summer lunch. The wine shown above is a vermentino I get for around $18, but an orvieto or Alsatian pinot gris would also not be amiss here, and you can also pick up some nice ones in this price range. 
• I loathe stringing, topping and tailing peas, so I pay a little extra and buy stringless sugar snap peas. You can sometimes get them at [insert large membership-based warehouse store here] and thus pretend you’re not being bougie.