 | | | Radish salad Photo Susie Iventosch | | | | | | It seems appropriate to take a break for crunchy greens and veggies after the holiday season, which is chock-full of rich food and fabulous goodies. While radishes are not a favorite of everyone, I love their fresh taste and crunchy character. They make a great snack all by themselves, but they also brighten up a salad, both in texture and color. Watermelon radishes with their fuchsia meat and lime green exterior, would be beautiful in this salad, but I didn't have any on hand, so I used regular red-skinned radishes - also pretty.
Besides radishes, this salad calls for watercress, micro greens and cucumber along with feta cheese crumbles and toasted pine nuts (not pictured). I've been buying BrightFresh Microgreens, which offers miniature cilantro, arugula, or kale and are usually available at Safeway and other grocers. These greens make a wonderful base for salad. They do, however, need to be washed, and I usually rinse them and spin them in the lettuce spinner and then wrap them in paper towels to dry. The watercress gives a peppery flavor to the salad, too, which is nice.
INGREDIENTS
10 radishes, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, (optional to peel) thinly sliced
1 bunch watercress
1 package micro arugula
1 package micro cilantro
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 Tbsp. toasted pine nuts
Recipe lemon vinaigrette:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Place all cleaned greens in a salad bowl or on a serving dish. I kept the stems on the watercress, but you can also remove them and use just the leaves, if you prefer. Arrange cucumber and radish slices over the greens and sprinkle feta cheese and pine nuts on top. Drizzle with dressing for a pretty presentation, or toss ahead of time if you're not concerned about the presentation.
Cooking Term of the Week
Verjuice (or verjus)
This term stems from the French vert (green) and jus (juice). Verjuice is a liquid made from unripe grapes, crab-apples or other fruits. This sour juice is used to flavor sauces, mustards or even salad dressings. It's a great alternative to lemon or vinegar and gives a different kind of sour flavor. Here are two recipes for making grape verjuice:
https://www.giverecipe.com/homemade-fresh-verjuice/
https://honest-food.net/how-to-make-verjuice/
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA