I’ve always been on the fence about radishes. When I starting bringing them home from the farm share by the armload, I admit to becoming a little nervous. I could see eating a one or two diced radishes on top of my salad, but that was not going to get us through the bunches quickly accumulating in the crisper drawer of our fridge. So they sat there taunting me, winning the vegetable beauty contest for their bright pink skin, white flesh and lush leaves, but neglected on our table. It didn’t help that Josh took my skepticism a step further to downright dislike: too earthy, too spicy, not for him.
The other day, I decided to take control of our radish situation, trying my hand at a batch of refrigerator pickles and used up those radishes. And they came out beautifully. Now, instead of that fiercely spicy bite that had me nibbling hesitantly, I had a juicy-crisp tangy-salted wonder. Pickling mellows this vegetable perfectly. And these pickled radishes will still win your vegetable beauty contests; their white flesh turns a lovely pink as they marinate. The pickles will last in the fridge for several weeks, so go ahead and make up a batch, and consume them at your own pace. But I’ll bet they’ll be gone long before you are wondering about their shelf life. (more…)
