Spotlight: Red Radishes

Juicy, crunchy and crisp, red radishes add a delightful punchy color and flavor to dishes. Their peppery taste stimulates the production of saliva and rouses the appetite. Fantastic with aperitifs (especially chilled Fino Sherry) when served with butter and salt on the side: wipe a radish across the butter before dipping it in salt. - Eat the Seasons

Health Benefits:
Radishes are superstars when it comes to their nutritional content. They are packed with vitamin C, B6, E, A, and K, antioxidants, fiber and a wide range of minerals such as zinc, phosphorous, copper, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and manganese, which all serve to detox the body. Red radishes are also an excellent source of complex carbohydrates and protein too to keep you active and healthy [source]. Radishes also help fight cancer and are high in vitamin C, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, shown to help with asthma. Calorie counters, rejoice, because radishes are also low in calories [source].

Storage: 
Remove the greens immediately to prevent nutrients and water being leached into the leaves. The greens can be stored 1-2 days and can be thrown into salads or in other braising green dishes for an extra peppery kick. The radishes can be stored in the fridge for up to one week. Putting the radishes in plastic bags in the fridge could extend its life but make sure to reuse your plastic bags!

Preparation: 
Lightly rinse or wipe with a damp towel to clean the radishes and trim off the stems and tip. The peppery flavor is most concentrated in the skin and so this can be peeled or cut off if the radishes are too pungent. However, the skin is also the source of most of the vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, so try preparing them with the skins on first. For added crispness, soak in iced water for an hour before use. [source]

Serving Tips: 
Red radishes can be served whole, chopped, or grated, and either raw or cooked. Here are some ideas/recipes to try:

• In a classic, French Breakfast: Red Radishes with Butter and Sea Salt
• In a salad: Radishes stand alone in this recipe, Standing up for the Radishes of the World Salad. Or try this delicious recipe, Red Radish and Carrot Salad. They also serve well in slaws with carrots, beets, cucumbers, 
• Roasted: Roasted Radishes Recipe with Soy Sauce and Toasted Sesame Seed
• With pasta: Radish Penne
• Curried in this Radish Dal recipe.
• Steamed: Steam shredded dressed with vinaigrette made with rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and chopped cilantro. [source]
• Stir-fried: with balsamic and garlic in this recipe.

Flavor Friends, (selections from The Flavor Bible):
Butter (especially sweet), chives, cream cheese, lemon, mint, parsley, pepper, salt, scallions, thyme, vinegar (especially cider and white wine)