Before I share with you my love affair for this new snack, can I just say how good it feels to be inspired and energized in the kitchen again? Ah! Such a sweet relief it is, because even though it happens every single spring, I still worried this year for just a little while. When all the reserves of last year's harvest are mostly gone, and there's nothing fresh or green coming in except that which we buy at a grocery store, well....it's hard to remember that food can be exciting. For that short little stretch in spring, anyway. And then I have a momentary panic - oh gosh, what if I don't like cooking anymore? I need to feed approximately a dozen people approximately a dozen times a day for the next hundred years! Ah! (Or something like that.)
But that stretch of blah in the kitchen always passes, and is quickly replaced by excitement, just as soon as things start coming in from the garden. Fiddleheads were a lovely first treat, and then the egg production picked up, and now we're onto harvesting just enough from the garden that it warrants the use of a basket. Enough to fill a basket! And there's simply nothing like fresh-from-the-garden (mine or someone else's) to inspire enthusiasm and creativity in the kitchen once again. I'm happy to be at that place now, currently being fueled by spinach, chard, kale, radishes, beet greens, garlic scapes, and all those eggs. Yes!
This little snack came together quite by accident earlier in the week and I've made it each day since. Returning home from a trip meant I had no idea what was in the cupboards (not a lot), but bare cupboards always result in something new, so that's okay. Usually I use our radishes in salads, or with butter and salt, or on buttered toast. But this was such a fun and easy twist too....
Radish Toast
8 or so radishes*
I lemon, zest
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
6 Tablespoons butter
In a bowl, combine thinly sliced and chopped radishes, roughly chopped radish leaves, the zest of one lemon, salt and pepper. Add softened butter and combine. On a baking sheet, lightly toast slices of bread. Turn the bread over, spread radish butter over the bread slices, and broil until desired crispiness - just a few quick minutes.
(Because my kids believe everything is better with cheese, they did grate some parmesan for the top of the bread/radish butter and loved it like that. I preferred it without, though.)
Yum!
*Radishes! This year, I'm growing Zlata Radishes for the first time and loving them. A little bit spicy, and oh so good. I also have Plum Purple Radishes, a classic but oh so good variety. I would use them interchangeably or together in this toast method.
Tell us, what are you doing with radishes these days?
