Celebrate the Radish

My organic farm share included the most beautiful radishes last week. They were a vibrant rosy red with a winter white center. Their stems were crisp and green, fresh and sturdy, just too lovely to slice off and forget.

On a beautiful white plate, these radishes looked quite at home. I served them as a last minute hors d’oeuvre along with a shallow plate of my favorite fruity olive oil and a spoon of sea salt. Guests dipped the radish in oil and then into the spoon of salt before chomping on them between sips of either Champagne or my husband’s ultimate Cosmopolitan (which I promise to write about soon).

Gourmands typically serve their radishes with butter and salt. Sometimes they pile them on a slice of bread, as fabulous food blogger Cook Eat Fret does here. I have tried to omit butter from my daily life, saving it for special occasions and my rare serving of fluffy pancakes. Olive oil is a great substitution – not as rich, but light and delicious.