Adding New Veggies: The Radish

Let me start by saying, yes, I definitely mean what I say in the title. I am trying to add new veggies here and there. I grew up eating meat and potatoes and an occasional salad. I remember sitting at the table at five years old crying over the vegetables on my plate, the same veggies my siblings and mother ate, the same veggies my father said not to worry about eating because he didn't always eat them. Fast forward to adulthood and when searching for variety on my plate, those 5 raw things in the produce section just weren't doing it for me anymore.

Over the last few years, I have tried adding new veggies here and there. Cooked onions are something I've added, but still no raw ones. I managed to retrain my palate and actually enjoy green beans now. Not just any green beans though; no canned ones, and since I was raised in the South, definitely still get a few weird looks when turning down the traditional green bean casserole. My preference is the thinner beans, only fresh or frozen, and can only eat them when they are a still bit crunchy. Although seemingly a bit picky with my prep, it's still considered a win. Mushrooms are often referred to as the "meat of veggies", but in my opinion, they taste like dirt. Feel free to call it "earthy" if that makes it a bit more culinary, but no matter the descriptor, it's not happening on my plate. Americans went nuts over cauliflower years ago, and it hasn't let up. If it isn't raw in a salad, I don't want it. The recent "faux mac and cheese" craze drives me a little batty. I grew up in the 80s when both cauliflower & cheese and broccoli & cheese were on the table regularly. I'm just not falling for the remarketing of cauliflower.

As a potato lover, eating lower in carbs has had its challenges. Being a diabetic means I do see firsthand the damage those potatoes are doing to me personally. This doesn't mean I don't enjoy them on a rare occasion, because I do, but they are far from being a staple on my plate these days. A couple of years ago, while ordering a build-your-own salad at Bad Daddy's Burger Bar, their limit of 7 toppings became a goal for me, so I added radishes and hard-boiled eggs without even thinking about it. I know this is a veggie post, but the hard-boiled egg is also something I thought was horrifying as a child, so I went crazy with it, and man, that was a damn good salad that day.

The radishes were cut into sticks or julienned for you finer folks. Of course, I had planned on trying them before diving into the salad and had already decided it would be easy enough to pull them out pre-dressed. Headspace: Yep, I thought about how to get out of eating the radishes while waiting on our entrees to be prepared, let's not forgot it's normal to assume I was going to hate them immediately, as I had hated the thought of them my entire life. Reality: I found the radishes delightfully fresh and crisp, much like the first time I had a pear slice in my salad. The flavor was kind of peppery; the texture was crunchy, and it had this cooling type capability: I was hooked. The radish is a staple in my salads now.

Click pic for Recipes!

Now, let's get down to the last couple of weeks. Yes, that recently. While cooking my corned beef, all that kept crossing my mind was corned beef hash. I was going to just eat the potato, but, instead took this opportunity to play with this curious veggie having seen roasted radishes in a couple of IG posts prior. Without research, I dove in, Using a little bacon fat, slicing the rashes in half, and salting, it just made sense to simply place them flat side down in the pan. They browned beautifully on one side, and after tossing a few times, they started to shrink and fall from their form a bit, so they were done in my book. I was pleasantly surprised. They did have a very mild cabbage-like flavor. (Side note: I also don't like cooked cabbage. It stinks! and reminds me of the boiled cabbage from childhood. I know there are people reading this right now that can relate.) While there was the mild cabbage-like flavor, it certainly doesn't compare to eating cooked cabbage thankfully. It definitely helped that I had my hash covered in a sharp cheddar cheese sauce. Haha! I don't see a problem with adding extra sauce or seasonings to cover an off-putting flavor to entice your taste buds, let's face it, we can't deny that's the real reason the aforementioned cauliflower and cheese was developed. I did eat a few more without the cheese by the end and they were pretty decent, so the cheese sauce did its temporary job.

I know the word "decent" isn't enticing. I get it. I'm not trying to sell you anything here, I'm simply passing on my experiences and chose to opt for real life. It wasn't an overwhelming, magical moment where I suddenly loved something or immediately realized "I've been missing out on this beautiful ingredient all of these years". Nope. It was pretty decent and as I continued to eat it, was training my tastebuds to appreciate it. The fact that I continued to eat it without thinking about it or forcing it down in a terrible manner, is positive! Please don't think I was suffering while doing this (haha), I'd just never do that to myself. I know there isn't any amount of seasoning I can add to cooked cabbage to make it edible for me, trust me, I've tried, so in comparison, the radish is definitely doable to use and get creative with.

Radishes come in bunches or bags in the produce section, which I'm sure the majority of you know and are quite cheap compared to a lot of other things. So, after only using a few in my hash, having leftovers helped me stay creative. About a year ago, I tried frying hearts of palm as a hash brown substitute for breakfast and found it tasty. It also makes a great garnish, so why not try it with the radishes? Being A Google-a-holic, it took all of two minutes for Betty Crocker to tell me how to do fry these babies. I've been eating radish chips for a couple of weeks now and I just cannot get enough. The ones that don't get as crispy can have that faint cabbagy essence, but it's mostly gone, and chips are perfect with dip so have some handy if you are still retraining your tastebuds! Do it. Trust me, just do it. I posted some dip on my IG account and was surprised by the number of messages I received about the radish chips rather than the dip. I just assumed people knew about them!

Click pic for recipe!

I am not sorry to say, after going through the first bag, I've purchased a few more bags of radishes. When planning to make Tom mac and cheese (boxed crap) to go with pork chops the other night, creamy cheesy goodness was also on the top of my cravings list too, the truth is pork chops and ooey-gooey mac and cheese are certainly long-term partners on southern plates. Immediately au gratin or scalloped radishes crossed my mind. It's really about the cheese more than the pasta for me at this point in my life now, and I had some leftover shredded Irish Cheddar screaming my name in the refrigerator. In an effort to make my life easier and avoid making an inedible dish that evening, I turned to the Diet Doctor's recipe for a low-carb bechamel. If you've ever created recipes, you know it takes time, effort, and can turn into eating a lot of not-so-great food.....this is not what I was looking for. So, I did use that ratio of dairy for my recipe. Thank you to them! I originally was going to split it in half, but then realized I'd just use the same sauce for real mac n cheese for Tom. This is a perfect example of how I cook for a mixed household. I was boiling my radishes anyway, so I boiled some pasta too, and split the au gratin goodness between the dishes. His was topped with pork rind crumbs rather than bread crumbs, giving him more protein rather than more flour, and that never hurts anyone.

Let's talk about the color for a minute. The skin is reddish/purple. Not thinking, my first au gratin dish turned...SURPRISE... purple. Did I eat it? Yep! Did I peel them for the next time so I could take a picture for you guys? Yep. Will I continue to peel them? I don't know. It didn't take long, and honestly, I plopped myself down in front of the television and talked to Tom while I was using it. The key is a sharp vegetable peeler! When I serve this at a dinner party, I will definitely peel them. There will be still times I have a creamy cheesy slightly purple au gratin on my plate though. PROTIP: Some radishes have pretty purple designs when you slice them. Not to worry, it'll go away when boiling, yielding the transparent potato look desired.

Big Life Breakdown: If you don't like food, you don't like it, and that's okay with me because it's none of my business. I've always heard our palate and tastes change throughout our lifetime and I believe this. I also believe we can train ourselves to eat something we may previously not have liked. And, too, believe there may be some foods we just won't ever enjoy in any manner (cooked cabbage). After experimenting in this short period of time, radishes are something I will continue to eat. As always, I encourage people to play with their food and this includes tasting things you may not have liked ten years ago. It really doesn't hurt to try it again or in a different way. Taking my own advice, I will continue to try that damn cooked cabbage throughout adulthood but likely will not change my opinion.