Cooking with Chef Jo: It's A ll About Radish Greens

Oops, I fotgot to hit publish yesterday. My bad!

Radishes and lettuces are the first harvestable crops in your garden each spring. I have to really restrain myself from cutting all the greens for salads and tasty treats for the rabbits. The radishes roots themselves I don't particularly care for raw unless it's daikon radishes fermented. I find them too spicy and bitter for my palate. But even so, we plant 7 or 8 varieties each year.

But roasting or stir-frying them, radishes take on a totally different texture and flavor. I can't get enough of them. It works with any type of radish: red, white, and even daikon.

Spring Stir-Fry of Baby Japanese Radishes (radishes and greens) and Soba

Servings 2

Ingredients

  Kosher salt

2 ounces dried soba noodles

12 to 22 young radishes with greens

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions plus 1 to 2 tablespoons for garnish

2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger

 2 teaspoons chopped fresh garlic

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or 1/2 small fresh serrano pepper, sliced

1 tablespoon white (shiro) miso plus more to taste

§  1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro (leaves and tender stems), plus a few whole sprigs for garnish

§  Low-sodium tamari

Instructions

•  Bring a medium saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the soba noodles and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. (Beware of the package instructions, which will tell you to cook them for much longer.) Drain, rinse briefly with cold water, and allow to drain well.
•  Separate the greens from the roots. You should have about 1 cup (a little more or less won’t matter). Separate the greens from the radish roots, then trim the radishes and cut into 1/2-inch slices. You should have about 1/2 cup. Roughly chop the  radish greens and measure out 2 cups loosely packed.
•  In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup of water to a very gentle simmer.
• Meanwhile, in a large (12-inch) nonstick stir-fry pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the diced radishes and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook, stirring, until all the veggies are slightly browned, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the scallions and the ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until fragrant and softened, about 1 minute. Add the 2 cups of chopped greens and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat. 
•  Whisk the miso into the hot water, then add the mixture to the stir-fry pan. Add the cooked soba noodles, the chopped cilantro, and a splash of tamari. (If necessary, return the pan to low heat for a minute or two to heat everything through.) Transfer to two bowls and garnish with the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons of scallions and the cilantro sprigs.

Enjoy!

Y'all Have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo