Radishes
Radishes have become rather glamorous in recent years, moving from being just one of the usual suspects on a vegetable platter to an ingredient with status. This renewed affection has, thankfully, spurred growers to expand their offerings from your basic round red radish to a crazy multitude of shapes and colors—varieties such as slender, pink-and-white ombré-ed French breakfast radishes; austere all-white, long Icicle radishes; dramatic Spanish black radishes; and the mix of gem-toned round radishes sold as Easter Egg. And I’m not even talking about the many varieties of Asian daikon-type radishes.
Variety is the spice. Radish flavors vary only in their level of spiciness, which is mostly determined by how long the radish has been growing; the longer it takes to mature, the spicier the flavor, which is why I like to work with farmers who harvest as soon as the radish has reached its proper size. All young radishes should share a dense crunchiness; those that were left in the soil for a long time will become woody and pithy.
Use the tops. Because radishes grow quite fast, their greens are generally in great shape when they get to the market. Be sure to cut them off when you get home, then wash, dry, and store them as you would salad greens. The radishes themselves store nicely in the fridge up to a week or so, but as with everything, their quality fades over time, so use them soon.
Crudités are just the beginning. The classic spring appetizer is ice-cold radishes with a chunk of good butter and a pile of sea salt on the side. Smear, dip, crunch . . . delicious. But I think of radishes as way more than a simple crudité. I like to use them raw in many shapes (chunks, slices, chopped), and I also love to cook radishes, which opens up a whole new world.
Radishes with Tonnato, Sunflower Seeds, and Lemon
This salad is like an inside-out tuna salad, with the radishes as the centerpiece and tonnato, a smooth creamy tuna mayo, as the binder. It makes a beautiful simple supper on a warm spring night or a great side dish to a grilled veal chop. It’s best not to assemble this salad until close to serving time, as the radishes are prone to weeping a bit.
» Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side
½ recipe Tonnato
Juice of ½ lemon
2 bunches radishes, greens trimmed off and reserved for another dish, radishes halved or quartered
1 small handful mint leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup sunflower seeds, lightly toasted
1 small handful sunflower sprouts (optional)
Put the tonnato in a large bowl, squeeze in a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice, and stir to mix. Add the radishes and toss to coat them.
Add the mint and season well with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust with more salt, pepper, or lemon juice.
Add half the sunflower seeds and sprouts (if using). Toss, then top with the remaining seeds and sprouts. Serve soon.
Grilled Radishes with Dates, Apples, and Radish Tops
When you cook a radish, it loses much of its spicy heat and becomes quite friendly. The cooked radishes also develop a texture similar to the apples in this dish. If you have radishes with nice-looking tops, incorporate them into the dish, as you would with turnips, beets, and carrots. Some grated extra-sharp cheddar would also be nice in this dish.
» Serves 4
1 bunch radishes, with their tops if they’re nice and fresh
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dried chile flakes
Red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
4 ounces pitted dates, cut into small bits
1 apple, halved, cored, and thinly sliced
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
½ cup roughly chopped toasted almonds
If you’re using the greens, cut them from the bunch of radishes and wash well in cool water, as you would salad greens. Once they’re hiding no more grit, spin them dry in a salad spinner.
Heat a slick of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and when it’s hot, add the greens. Toss with tongs until the greens are slightly wilted. Season with salt, black pepper, and a few chile flakes and cook for another few seconds, until the greens are tender.
When the greens are cool enough to handle (but still warm), roughly chop them, then pile them into a bowl. Douse with a couple of teaspoons of vinegar and toss to blend. Taste and adjust the salt, black pepper, chile flakes, and vinegar. When the flavors are bright and balanced, toss with a small glug of olive oil. Set aside.
Prepare a charcoal grill, heat a gas grill to high, or heat the oven to 450°F.
Scrub the radishes. Grill or roast the whole radishes—with no oil—until they are slightly soft when you squeeze them, 12 to 15 minutes depending on their size (slightly longer if you’re roasting them). Turn them a few times during grilling. Let the radishes cool, then cut them in half.
Toss the halved radishes in a large bowl with the dates, apple, onion, marinated radish tops, and parsley. Add ¼ cup vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, lots of twists of black pepper, and ½ teaspoon chile flakes and toss again. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add ¼ cup olive oil and the almonds, toss again, taste again, and make any final adjustments in the seasoning.
Roasted Radishes with Brown Butter, Chile, and Honey
Raw radishes and fresh butter are a classic pairing, but here we cook the two together until toasty and nutty. A splash of vinegar, a pinch of chile, and a drizzle of honey create a delicious tension that makes this dish unexpectedly satisfying.
» Serves 4
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 bunches radishes, with their tops if they’re nice and fresh, radishes halved lengthwise if large
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dried chile flakes
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
Heat the oven to 375°F.
If you’re using the greens, cut them from the bunch of radishes and wash well in cool water, as you would salad greens. Once they’re hiding no more grit, spin them dry in a salad spinner.
Put a small slick of olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Arrange the radishes cut side down and cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the oven and roast until the radishes are nicely browned and starting to get tender, about 10 minutes.
Add the radish greens and roast until the radishes are fully tender and the greens have wilted, another 5 minutes.
Take the skillet from the oven and set over low heat on the stove (careful, the handle is hot!). Season nicely with salt, black pepper, and ½ teaspoon chile flakes. Add the butter and cook until the butter has melted and is starting to get golden brown and nutty smelling, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the vinegar to the skillet and gently fold everything to combine. Drizzle on the honey and fold again. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, black pepper, chile flakes, vinegar, or honey. Serve warm.
In the kitchen Radishes look cheerful and friendly, but they can deliver quite a bite, especially later in the season or during very hot weather. Tame the pepperiness by peeling them—most of the spice is in the outer layer—or by cooking. Sautéing or roasting will mellow their kick.
Sugar Snap Peas
Sugar snaps may be the most aptly named vegetable in the garden. When freshly picked in spring, they are indeed sugary and they have a juicy, snappy crunch to them. These are peas that are grown for the pod itself, though you’ll find little underdeveloped peas inside. Everything is edible except for the stem end and the fibrous string along one side, which is easy to pull off like a zipper. The string of really young snap peas won’t be developed enough to bother removing.
Taste for sweetness. I don’t dist
inguish much between varieties of sugar snaps—they’re all about the same to me. But that doesn’t mean they’re all equal. Always take a bite of a couple of sugar snaps before you buy them. You want to feel that snappy texture, almost like a crisp apple, and you want an upfront sweetness, with just a hint of greenness following. Sugar snaps that have stayed too long on the vine, or that have been harvested too far in advance, will be fibrous and starchy, and not worth playing with.
Keep them loosely wrapped in plastic in the fridge, and try to eat them within a day of purchase—their sugars will quickly fade to starch.
Use whole or sliced. I like to serve snap peas whole—they’re a natural two-bite size—but I also love to play with their shapes, cutting them into nuggets or slicing them so fine they’re almost shredded. Even thinly cut their crunch remains, creating an appealing texture in your dish.
Sugar Snap Peas with Pickled Cherries and Peanuts
Cherries appear in late spring or early summer, so you may be lucky enough to have both snap peas and cherries in season together. If not, look for pickled cherries in specialty grocery stores.
» Serves 4
1 pound sugar snap peas, strings pulled off, peas cut in half on an angle
1 generous cup drained pickled cherries
1 cup redskin (Spanish) peanuts
1 bunch scallions, trimmed (including ½ inch off the green tops), thinly sliced on a sharp angle, soaked in ice water for 20 minutes, and drained well
¼ cup pickling juice (from the cherries)
1 small handful basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried chile flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
Toss together the snap peas, cherries, peanuts, scallions, pickling juice, and basil in a large bowl. Add the chile flakes and season generously with salt and black pepper, especially the pepper. Taste and adjust until the salad is fully vibrant, then add ¼ cup olive oil and toss again.
Taste and adjust the seasoning so the salad is zippy but balanced. Serve lightly chilled.
Sugar Snap Peas with Mustard Seeds and Tarragon
The spices give this dish a vaguely Indian feel, though the tarragon brings us right back to western Europe. I keep all the seasonings in check here because what I really want to taste are the delicately sweet snap peas.
» Serves 4
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound sugar snap peas, strings pulled off
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
½ lemon
¼ cup lightly packed tarragon leaves
½ cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
Put the mustard seeds and cumin seeds in a small skillet over medium heat and toast until the spices become fragrant, shaking the pan so nothing burns, about 4 minutes. Be careful because the mustard seeds might pop. Pour them onto a plate to cool.
Heat a small glug of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the snap peas, season lightly with salt and pepper, and sauté for a minute or two.
Add ¼ cup water to the pan and quickly cover it. Steam the snap peas for a minute or so, then uncover. The peas should be approaching crisp-tender. Once the water has evaporated, add the butter and the toasted seeds and cook for another minute.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the lemon zest, a big squeeze of lemon juice, the tarragon, and parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt, pepper, or lemon juice. Serve warm.
Sugar Snap Pea and New Potato Salad with Crumbled Eggand Sardines
When you’re making this salad, you might think that it’s too liquidy at first. But all that delicious sauce will get absorbed into the potatoes as the salad sits, and as you mash things together on your plate.
» Serves 4
½ pound new potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled (unless the skin is really tough)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons
½ pound sugar snap peas, strings pulled off, thinly sliced on an angle
1 bunch scallions, trimmed (including ½ inch off the green tops), sliced on a sharp angle, soaked in ice water for 20 minutes, and drained well
6 boneless canned sardines, drained and broken into pieces
2 teaspoons dried chile flakes
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 Soft-Cooked Eggs
1 handful mint leaves
Fill a large pot with cold water and add salt until it tastes like the sea. Add the potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook until tender, about 15 minutes (since they are new potatoes, this will happen fast, so check often so they don’t overcook). Drain the potatoes and let them cool.
Using a rasp-style grater, zest both lemons into a bowl large enough to hold the whole salad. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze in the juice (try to retrieve and discard the seeds). Add the potatoes, sugar snaps, scallions, sardines, and 1 teaspoon of the chile flakes.
Season with 1 teaspoon salt and many twists of black pepper. Toss gently to mix everything, then let marinate for 10 minutes. Add ½ cup olive oil and toss again. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Break up the eggs by pulling them apart into quarters and dropping them into the bowl. Add the mint. Mix gently, taste again, and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve at room temperature. If you make this ahead and need to refrigerate it, be sure to let it warm up a touch before serving.
Pasta alla Gricia with Slivered Sugar Snap Peas
Pasta alla gricia is a very simple Roman pasta dish consisting of guanciale (cured pork jowl) and pecorino. As I do with many traditional Italian dishes, I use the classic as a springboard for improvisation. Here I add very thinly sliced snap peas, which creates an amazing texture as well as adds a fresh green note to the otherwise quite rich pasta. And I use my Cacio e Pepe Butter as a perfect shortcut, once again demonstrating that a well-stocked larder means delicious food in minutes.
» Serves 4
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces guanciale or pancetta, diced or chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces spaghetti, fettuccine, or tagliatelle
1 pound sugar snap peas, strings pulled off, peas very thinly sliced on a sharp angle (so they’re almost shredded)
6 tablespoons Cacio e Pepe Butter
Pecorino Romano cheese, for grating
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt until it tastes like the sea.
Put the guanciale and 2 teaspoons olive oil into a skillet or Dutch oven that’s large enough to hold all the pasta. Cook until it’s lightly crisped and most of the fat has rendered out, 9 to 12 minutes. Take the skillet off the heat and spoon off the fat except for about 1 tablespoon.
When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to the package directions until almost al dente. When the pasta is almost ready, add the snap peas to the pasta pot.
Put the skillet back over medium heat to reheat the guanciale gently. With a ladle or a measuring cup, scoop out about ½ cup of the pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta and snap peas and add them to the skillet along with the cacio e pepe butter. Toss well to incorporate, adding a few drops of the pasta water in order to make a cloaking, creamy sauce. Taste and adjust with more salt or pepper, though you probably won’t need any.
Transfer to serving bowls and top with grated pecorino. Serve right away.
Very thinly sliced peas can be easily distributed into the pasta strands.
Crispy Sugar Snap Peas with Tonnato and Lemon
Sure, crudités are great, but sometimes I like to go beyond raw . . . way be
yond, in this case. Once you get over any intimidation about deep-frying, this is a quick snack to make, and a lovely offering for friends who drop by for a glass of wine or a Negroni.
» Serves 4 to 6 as an appetizer
Vegetable or olive oil, for deep-frying
½ cup cornstarch
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sparkling water
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dried chile flakes
1 pound sugar snap peas, strings pulled off
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for grating
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish
4 big lemon wedges
Tonnato
Arrange a double layer of paper towels on a tray or baking sheet and set it near your stove. Pour 2 inches of oil (vegetable oil or a mix of olive and vegetable) into a saucepan, making sure there are at least 3 inches of headroom (the oil may bubble up a bit during cooking, and you don’t want any spillovers—dangerous!).
Slowly bring the oil up to 375°F on a thermometer. (Alternatively, fry a small piece of bread: When it takes 60 seconds to get nicely crisp and brown, but not burnt, your oil is just about right.)
As the oil is heating, whisk the cornstarch and flour together in a bowl. Whisk in enough sparkling water to make a thin batter. Season with some salt and black pepper and ¼ teaspoon chile flakes.
When the oil is ready, dip the snap peas into the batter, let the excess drip off, and carefully immerse them in the hot oil. Take care to not add too many at once because that will cause the oil temperature to drop and the peas will get greasy. (To make things go faster, you can use a wire mesh spoon, called a spider, to add a bunch of the peas to the batter, tapping to encourage the excess batter to drip off.) Fry until the coating is puffed and very light golden (these will not get deeply colored). Transfer to the paper towels to drain.
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