'Tis the season to fall in love with radishes! Between their nice crispy texture and a tangy bitterness, they make a great addition to sides and salads. Aside from their taste, they are loaded with healthy benefits like fiber, iron, and calcium. A Spring favorite, here are five recipes that take full advantage of this bright little veggie.
The first stop on our colorful tour of produce is the red section. Specifically, beets, red bell peppers, and radishes stood out on the grocery shelves. Find out our favorite ways to use these red ingredients when you read on!
Some people care to receive flowers for Valentine's Day, but if you're like me, you would prefer an edible arrangement. While this salad isn't technically a bouquet of any kind, it does contain a colorful sprinkle of edible flowers. I chose purple pansies, snapdragon, and violets to keep in line with the Valentine's Day color scheme, but you can use bright yellow marigolds, orange nasturtiums, and other known edible flowers too. You'll find the flowers are mild in flavor and taste much like greens (slightly peppery and leaf-like).
Slices of pink grapefruit also adorn the salad. If you do not like the bitterness of grapefruit, try salting it before tossing the slices in with the greens. It neutralizes the tartness, letting the essence of the grapefruit flavor shine through. Slices of watermelon radish add a bit of crunch and vibrant color. Compared to other radishes out there, watermelon radish is mild in spiciness, plus it's fun to chomp on a naturally neon pink food!
Finally, Point Reyes Toma, a semihard cow's milk cheese, provides a creamy, buttery counterpart to the salad. Everything is tossed in a very simple vinaigrette to let the fresh ingredients dazzle your taste buds.
At first blush, the humble root known as the radish may not look like much. But take a closer look (and taste) at these diminutive vegetables (which are in season across the country), and you'll discover they're just what you need to add flair to your springtime meals. Humble and plentiful, they impart a peppery, almost horseradish-like zing to anything from salads to sandwiches. Not sure what to do with your bunch? Then turn to these six recipes for inspiration.
 Radish Tartines |
 Taco Salad |
 Jicama Coleslaw |
 Roast Chicken With Radishes |
 Butter-Braised Radishes |
 Steak and Pineapple Salad |
A whole roast chicken is one the easiest weekend meals to prepare; it's pretty hands-off, requires minimal cleanup, and usually yields plenty of leftovers for the rest of the work week. During the Winter, I keep this recipe pretty simple with potatoes and onions but once Spring has sprung, I love to add carrots, radishes, bell pepper, and even asparagus.
To season the chicken, coat it in a mixture of Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and olive oil. Place the squeezed lemon rinds inside the cavity of the chicken for even more zest. Of course, a whole chicken will take longer to cook than those delicate Spring veggies, so I always start the chicken with baby potatoes and onions. 
As the chicken roasts, I add the other vegetables depending on their thickness and cook time. Carrots and radishes can take the heat but sliced bell pepper and asparagus should go nearly at the end. Serve your succulent chicken and Spring vegetables with some crusty French bread and white wine for a perfect weekend meal. Feast on your Spring chicken once you get the recipe.
When it comes to preparing Spring produce, my favorite executions are always the simplest ones. I love snacking on raw vegetables with a bagna cauda sauce of anchovies, garlic, and olive oil, and my favorite French snack is fresh bread slathered with good-quality salted butter, then topped with radish slices.
Why, I wondered, can't I combine the two? So I did. The result is something akin to a Spring garlic bread. It's soft in the middle and crusty around the edges, with a little pepper from the radish slices, a lot of bite from fresh garlic and Spring onions, and a certain je nais sais quoi, thanks to the anchovies.
I like to slice the bread and vegetables thinly for a delicate bite, or on the thicker side when I'm in the mood for something a bit more rustic. For a Spring snack that's all elegance and simplicity, keep reading.
After enjoying a two-tomato vegetable soup the night before, extend your meatless meal streak tonight with an easy and light whole wheat rigatoni toss.
Use crunchy, nutrient-rich broccolini to impart a slightly nutty, peppery quality to a medley of whole wheat tubes and blanched radishes that get tossed in an orange zest vinaigrette.
The fiber in both the vegetables and the pasta ensures this'll be a filling dish to dig into; enjoy a beguiling, salty creaminess in every bite with crumbles of feta cheese as well. Don't have sherry vinegar, oranges, or broccolini on hand? This recipe is flexible: swap them out for red wine vinegar, lemon zest, and cauliflower or regular broccoli florets. Get the method when you read on.
I spent the Summer making salads, and while the weather has begun to change, that doesn't mean it isn't a great time for salads full of Fall flavors. At a recent trip to the market, I was thrilled to see one of my absolute favorite Fall fruits: the apple pear.
Apple pears are not a cross between apples and pears, but they have a shape that's similar to an apple with pear-like skin. Apple pears' texture is wonderfully crisp and they have a mild sweet flavor. While they're great eaten alone, they're even better in this Asian-influenced salad.
The fresh mix of cucumbers, radishes, and apple pears pair perfectly with bulgogi-style beef. The salad can easily be prepped ahead of time, then quickly cook the beef and assemble just before serving. If you are ready to embrace Fall, keep reading for the recipe.
Kale is one of Winter's most common greens and it's usually enjoyed cooked. But did you know that raw kale actually makes an amazingly delicious salad? When tossed with a flavorful dressing like the raspberry, mustard, apple cider vinaigrette in this recipe, the kale tastes crisp and healthy. Shredded beets, sliced radishes, and roasted pumpkin seeds add crunch, heft, and salt to the salad. Serve a piece of crusty bread slathered with creamy goat cheese, and you've got a satisfying and light meal. Look at the recipe after the break.
Until I walked past a bin of them on my last trip to the Chinese market, I'd completely forgotten about daikon radishes. The long, white vegetable, which looks like an oversize carrot, isn't that prevalent at Western markets, but is a staple in Asian cuisines. Although the milky-fleshed daikon can be found year-round at some grocery stores, the vegetables are sweetest and mildest during the cold weather months. 
If possible, shop for them at an Asian supermarket, where they're likely to be fresh, as they may grow bitter with age. Store them in a cool, dry place, where they'll keep for several weeks. If you're new to cooking with radishes, the concept may seem daunting, but this peppery giant is surprisingly versatile. To learn a few ways to enjoy it, read more
