Radish Salad with Curry Vinaigrette
Let the truth be told…radishes have often found their way into my compost bin! Of course, that was a long, long, long time ago when I didn’t know better! Now that I understand how much work goes into vegetable gardening, I wouldn’t dream of gifting them to the kitchen gods quite so often. Even so, I can only eat so much radish. I like them. I like them a lot, but one or two a year seems to be quite enough for me! Well, after they exploded from the garden the other day, I realized I would soon have quite a number of radishes having dutifully companion planted them with my beans and carrots. Not only would the challenge be to create a highly palatable radish dish, but hopefully use the greens as well.
The last few years I have been making quite a lot of fermented veg, so of course, using the radishes in that manner was the first thing that came to mind, but I am the only one in the house who will eat them. Thinking about the fermenting process reminded me of making kimchi – specifically of grating the veg and soaking it in salt water. This is a great trick for removing the “bglahh” from some of our more bitter friends!
I also pondered a dressing that would highlight the earthy nature of the green knowing that those, too, must be included in the salad. It also occurred to me that a long time ago I used to make dressings with dijon mustard, but have forgone that option for my simple oil, vinegar and honey concoctions as of late. And so, this salad was born!
I grated the radish with a bit of carrot, salted the mix for about an hour. Then I rinsed it and squeezed out the excess water. This was added to the finely chopped radish greens, tossed in the dijon curry vinaigrette and topped with toasted almonds. It is quite delicious if I might say so myself!
The next week… I made the version below with white icicle radishes, massaged collard greens, a few leftover red peppers, the same curry dressing and a sprinkling of mustard flowers.
Salad Ingredients:
- 1 bunch fresh radishes, grated
- 2 carrots, peeled and grated
- radish leaves, finely chopped
- toasted almond slivers
- kosher salt to sprinkle
Curry Vinaigrette Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 Tbs. rice wine, apple cider or red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbs. honey
- 2 tsp. dijon mustard
- 2 tsp. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp. curry powder
- fresh ground black pepper
Directions:
- Grate radishes and carrots. Sprinkle the grated veggies with kosher salt, mix together and let sit for an hour.
- Finely chop the radish leaves, cover and refrigerate.
- Mix all ingredients for vinaigrette. Taste and adjust as needed – some like more salt, more vinegar, more oil, more sweet.
- Once the salt has pulled much of the water from the veggies, rinse under cold water in a colander then squeeze extra water out.
- Toss greens, grated veggies and vinaigrette. Top with almonds right before serving. This salad can marinate in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
Vegetarian Perspective 