I used to force feed myself pretty vegetables that I didn’t like. For no other reason than them being pretty and looking nice in my veg bowl.

Now, thanks to this recipe, I like them and can enjoy looking at them AND eating them!

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 There is little in the vegetable world that I can resist. If it looks fresh and crisp and juicy I want it and I feel pretty lucky that I love all vegetables…unless it happens to be a radish. (see The 7 Deadly sins of a Foodie)

I find it insanely cruel that I really just don’t enjoy eating those beautifully shiny little rosy baubles. No matter how hard I try, the crisp peppery, wateriness just doesn’t do it for me…but the leaves, look how lusciously green they are, they even feel good, a bit like a nettle but without the sting…surely I could just eat that bit?

Raw, the leaves feel a bit like a cats tongue…on my tongue, which is something I never want to experience. Ever. Chewing them makes my tongue feel like it is being exfoliated in peppery bitterness…I just don’t like them, yet can I stop myself buying them? Nope.

They shine like beacons out of the supermarket salad department. They fill the otherwise grassy world with hope and colour, and as that mist is blown over them, they glow, hidden like rubies in a sea of varying green leaves and I about loose my mind. I snatch up not one, but two bunches, thinking surely THIS time I WILL like them.

However, I do not…until, one day at my wits end and unable to throw away or chow down on another hateful raw radish…I threw them in a pan. I wanted them to suffer too!

I melted a tbsp of butter in a frying pan until it frothed, threw in my quartered ruby red radishes, tossed them in the buttery goodness and sprinkled them with flaked sea salt. I let them turn golden with the butter while I angrily washed their green fuzzy leaves.
Once they looked delicious I baptised them in some finely chopped garlic and threw their now grit-free leaves on top until they wilted.

In mere minutes I had a gorgeous plate of food. Rich, dark glossy leaves flecked with garlic covered the plate and the golden, white and luscious pink quarters of radish lingered over them seductively.

Another scant sprinkle of salt made it on the platter before I realised I couldn’t wait another second to see how it tasted. I couldn’t even reach for a fork.

I snatched up a recently repellent radish and an exfoliant leaf dripping with butter in my fingers and scoffed it greedily.

An entire plate of radishes vanished in less time than it had taken me to cook them.
I adore them.
Their previously watery crunch had become a sweet bit of bite, like an al-dente carrot, their wet peppery persistence was now a delicately lingering piquancy and paired perfectly with the creamy butter. The leaves held their own too, the garlic gave them wings, the butter complimented their bitter streak and together the leaves and the radish were a true treat.

Now instead of feeling like they have a hold over me like some kind of catnip I can enjoy buying them, searching out their pretty pink orbs and prickly greens for my next mid-afternoon snack.

Recipe

Bunch of radishes.
1 Tbsp Butter
Clove of garlic
Salt

1.Separate radishes from leaves. Rinse radish and thoroughly wash leaves. The leaves have ‘hairs’ that keep hold of the grit that they seem to be grown in. Gently rub each leaf clean under a running tap if you can or in a bowl of water, there is nothing worse than a mouthful of sand, even if it is accompanied by a tasty radish leaf.

2. Cut radishes into quarters, this maximises flat sides making it easier to get at least one side golden in the pan.

3. Finely chop your garlic clove and set aside.

4. Put the butter into a frying pan on a medium heat and melt until it starts to froth, (carefully) throw in the radish quarters and toss in the butter. Fry over medium heat until they begin to bronze, toss a few times to colour each side a little bit.
They should take a few minutes to be coloured slightly and the butter will start to brown too, tip the pan to send them all to one side, throw in your garlic in the empty half of the pan and then your slightly damp, rinsed leaves on top. They will start to wilt instantly, toss the pan and mix everything together, turn the leaves if you need to but they should be done within seconds.

5. Turn off the heat, using tongs pull out the leaves individually and lay over a plate covering as much of it as you can. Scatter the golden pink radishes on top of the leaves, sprinkle with salt and enjoy…with or without a fork.

Great tapas, great snack, lovely mixed into a warm salad or cooled and added to a cold salad. Even a great side dish with fish or meat if you fancy a change from your regular (admittedly boring) vegetable selection.

Enjoy with a lovely dry rose to cut though the buttery snack. A perfect colour match too.

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So, get cooking! Xx