One of my son's favorite books at the moment is Jack Prelutsky's Scranimal Island, and of the poems within, his absolute favorite poem is the one about the radishark, a cross between a radish and a shark.
The poem (at the right) is quite amusing, in my opinion, heightened by the fact, that yes, most people are quite terrified of radishes. They have absolutely no clue what to do with them and would run a hundred miles rather than have to eat a radish.
I remember once upon a time I was at a get together with a bunch of very religious women. One of the dishes being served was a radish salad. I naively asked the women if there was a symbolism behind eating the radishes, sure that that is the only reason such a dish would be served. The ladies gave me a puzzled look. No, they answered, there's nothing symbolic behind eating radish salad. Still confused, I continued, "If there's no symbolic reason to eat radish salad, why are you serving it?" The ladies' answer "Because it tastes good."
Those ladies must have thought I was off my rocker. But I was asking in all seriousness. Before that point, I had never seen anyone chose to eat radishes. Radishes were just something people put in a vegetable salad so that others could pick it out, right?
That day I learned that yes, radishes, when prepared correctly, can taste absolutely delicious!
Since I'm big into frugal everything, especially frugal grocery shopping, one of the food cost cutting strategies I recommend is eating seasonal foods. As radishes are a winter crop, they're in season at the moment in the Northern Hemisphere, making them a frugal buy. Though from experience, most people haven't a clue what to do with them, so they avoid buying this nutritious vegetable.
Since I buy whatever is on sale, whatever is in season, I bought a bunch of radishes and fortunately figured out what to do with them. Because of my discovery, I decided that a radish recipe parade was in order, so you can see all the different yummy ways to make radishes, and so that you never do what I do and ask "Are you eating those radishes for spiritual reasons" because you'll know that yes, radishes can be absolutely delicious!
For today, I'll leave you with one of my favorite ways to eat radishes- on a sandwich with butter and sprinkled with salt. I especially like this on flatbreads or crackers, but any bread will do. Let your sandwich sit for about 10 minutes before eating- the salt will pull the sharpness out of the radishes, making them be a crispy, refreshing and delightful sandwich topping.
Do you ever buy radishes? Do you like them? What's your favorite radish recipe? Or are you one of the people who stays far away from radishes?