Ravishing Radishes

What is the most under-rated spring vegetable? The radish!  Radishes are detoxifying and great for digestion, they are high in vitamin C and low in calories, and they can even help with bug bites.  Why then are they so ignored?  In most homes, radishes show up on veggie trays or on top of green salads, and they are almost never on restaurant menus, but there are so many wonderful ways to eat them!  Did you know that radishes can be cooked or even roasted?  They can! In fact, cooking them reduces their pungency and gives them a more subtle flavour.  Although at this time of year, they are usually a little milder already.  What's even better is that you can even eat the radish greens.  They are tender like spinach and taste a bit like watercress.

Since I will not be posting next week, here are two ravishing radish recipes to hold you over.

Fennel and Radish Shrimp

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 large leek, washed, quartered, and sliced
1 large fennel bulb, chopped
1 bunch radishes, quartered and sliced

1 lb frozen shrimp, thawed and peeled
1 clove garlic, minced

juice of half a lemon
1 Tbsp light miso
1 tsp honey
salt pepper

fresh dill, chopped

Directions:

1. In a large pan, sauté the oil, butter, leek, salt, and pepper for 4 - 5 minutes.

2. Add the radishes and sauté for another 2 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and shrimp and sauté for 2 minutes.

4. Combine the lemon juice, honey, and miso into a paste.  Add to the pan and sauté for approximately 2 minutes or until the shrimp curl and turn pink.

5. Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and top with fresh dill.

Options:

1. This can be eaten on its own or is great when tossed with a short pasta like bow tie.


Radishes on Rye

Spread a fresh piece of rye bread with butter, add sliced raw radishes, and top with flaked salt such as Maldon.  Even if you have very pungent radishes, this combination will remove some of the heat. As an alternative, add sliced raw radishes to your avocado toast from this previously posted recipe. Enjoy!

 

Four-Day Farro

Don't worry, it doesn't take four days to make this.

A few months ago, I was visiting my parents for the weekend, and made this recipe from the River Cottage Veg cookbook.  A few days later, my dad called me and told me that they were eating the leftovers for the fourth day straight, AND that he now likes farro better than brown rice, which is saying a lot, trust me!

For those of you who are also new to farro, it is an ancient Italian wheat variety.  It is chewy and nutty and falls somewhere between brown rice and wheat berries.  The recipe below is my variation on the recipe that was initially published in the River Cottage book.  You may also want to use the basic structure of the recipe and play around with the vegetables you add depending on the season.  In my opinion, this dish is perfect for fall.

This recipe serves 6 - 8 generously.

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 garlic cloves, crushed with back of knife but left whole
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup dry farro, cooked according to package directions (make sure to rinse first)
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed (or 1/2 cup dry and cooked)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp toasted slivered almonds
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt, pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Mix butternut squash, fennel, onion, and garlic with olive oil.  Bake for about 30 - 40 minutes stirring part-way throughout.  You want it to be caramelized and brown, but not burned.

3. In the meantime, cook the farro in salted water and drain it.  It's okay if it sits at room temperature until the squash mixture cooks.  Also, if you are using canned beans, heat them through in a pot of water.

4. When everything has finished cooking, mix the farro with the mixture out of the oven including any oil/juices in the pan.  Add the lemon juice, dill, parsley, almonds, parmesan, salt, and pepper and mix thoroughly.  Enjoy!

Options:

1. I like to add half a golden delicious apple, tossed in lemon juice, that has been finely diced.  It adds a really nice crisp freshness that contrasts nicely with the rich cheese.

2. Apparently when my parents got to day four of leftovers, they decided that it was time to change things up a bit, so they added diced yellow peppers that had been roasted on the barbecue.  Apparently, the results were pretty fantastic.

Shopping Tips:

1. The best way to buy farro, in my opinion, is in a vacuum-sealed bag/box from an Italian store.  When bought this way, it is very inexpensive and fresh.  You can also buy it from an organic or health store, but it will be much more expensive.  If you buy an imported from Italy brand, buy one that says "semi-perlato or semi-brillato", which means that it is semi-pearled and will cook much more quickly, usually in about 20 - 30 minutes.

2. One of the best kitchen purchases I ever made was my lemon reamer.  This very inexpensive tool will juice a lemon faster and more effectively than any fancy gadget you can find.

Leftovers:

1. Obviously this lasts for quite a while in the fridge.

2. You could also mix in a bit more cheese and some egg, form the leftovers into patties, and shallow fry them.  Serve on top of dressed lettuce for a nice lunch.

Buon appetito!

Cod with Fennel and Tomato

Ooohh!  I'm so excited, the first post!  This recipe tastes summer fresh and is great for any warm night.  I really hope you give it a go...

For years, my mom has said that she doesn't like cod and insists on spending four times the amount to buy halibut.  The problem is that the cod she remembers came from a frozen blue rectangular package.  Please buy your cod fresh from the deli section of the grocery store, and you will also be surprised by how fresh and delicate it can taste.

Some people think that they do not like fennel because it has a strong black liquorice flavour when it is raw. I personally hate black liquorice, but when fennel is cooked, it has a very mild flavour that is nothing at all like anise.

This recipe serves two generously, but you might want to make more of the fennel and tomato accompaniment so that you can use it in one or two of the leftover recipes at the bottom.  It also freezes well.

Ingredients:

2 pieces of cod (or other fish - even salmon would work)
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large bulb of fennel
1 large leek with as much white as possible on the stalk
1 clove garlic, minced
6 - 8 cocktail tomatoes (I like Campari)
3-4 Tbsp fresh dill (it is important it is fresh)
1 Tbsp fennel fronds (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Place the two pieces of cod in a casserole dish.  Top with slivers of butter and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Place in the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes.

 3. Cut the stalks off the fennel fronds, but do not throw them away.  If the outside of the fennel bulb is beat up, peel it with a vegetable peeler.  Cut the bulb in half crossways, and then use the tip of your knife to cut out the core.  Chop the bulb into pieces a little bigger than you would an onion.

4. Cut the green top off of the leek, and then cut it in half lengthwise.  Run each half under cold water and spread the leaves apart to get off any dirt or grime - some are dirtier than others.  Cut each portion in half again lengthwise, and then cut each quarter into 1/4" crescents.

                     

5. In a skillet, add the olive oil, fennel, leeks, salt and pepper.  Sauté on medium heat being careful not to brown.  If it starts to brown, turn down the heat and/or add a small amount of water to the pan.

6. Mince the garlic, chop the tomatoes into eights, chop the dill and chop the fennel fronds.

7. When there are two minutes left in the cooking time for the fish, add the garlic and tomatoes to the pan with the fennel and leeks.  Stir to combine, and add more salt and pepper, if needed.

8. When the fish is done, take it out of the oven.  Sprinkle half the dill and fennel fronds over the fennel-tomato mixture.  Sprinkle the other half of the dill and fronds over the fish.  Enjoy!

Leftovers:

With the leftover fennel-tomato mixture, you could:

1. Add chicken stock to make a soup.  You might want to also add chicken or shrimp and pasta or diced potatoes.

2. Reheat in a skillet with a bit more olive oil and tomatoes to make a pasta.  Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  This would also be good with some added shrimp.  You could even add in some lemon zest for an extra zing.

There are two keys to serving leftovers: never serve them the next night (wait at least two days), and try to repurpose them into something a bit different.

Shopping Tips:

1. Fennel is sold in all major grocery stores, but it is kind of an annoying vegetable because it isn't always there and there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to it.  At this time of year, though, you should be okay.  If you can only find the bulb without the fronds (feathery bits at the top), just use more dill instead.

2. When you are buying leeks, try to get ones with as much white as possible.  You don't use the green part at all, so look for ones that are at least half white.

3.  Fish should not smell like fish, it should smell like the sea.  There is no lemon in this recipe because you shouldn't need it (although it would be good with a bit of a squeeze, if you want).  If you NEED lemon on your fish, then your fish is not fresh!

That's it.  I hope you are as excited about this journey towards healthy eating as I am.  Yay, fresh food!