Recipe: Radishes with Baguette and Herb Butter

My favourite thing about Spring is all the wonderful new vegetables.  Well, the Spring veggies and the first day I get to frighten the neighbours by wearing my un-pedicured feet out in open air! I don't care, you guys. Avert your eyes! My feet can breathe!!!  Also, the reappearance of the actual sun, that's good too.  But the veggies are stellar.

Asparagus, so versatile, so yummy, gets all the love.  We roast it, we grill it, we put it in salads and risotto, we drizzle it with olive oil...our pee smells until Canada Day.  But what of the humble radish?  It's always the last one left on the crudite platter, when it's lucky enough to even make it to the table.  We might slice it into a salad once in a while but it always just seems kind of "meh".  How could I find a way to serve it up that was fresh, yet elegant?

Leave it to little French school children and Ina Garten to teach me just how rad the radish really is.  I adapted Ina's recipe for Radishes with Butter and Salt, which she insists parents serve to their children as an after school snack in France.  We get it, France. You're better than us.  You're just showing off now.

What you'll need:

2 bunches of radishes

1 French baguette, sliced diagonally, lightly toasted

1/4 lb salted butter (room temp)

1 1/2 teaspoons minced scallions

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh dill

1 1/2 teaspoon fresh flat leaf parsley leaves

salt and pepper to taste (kosher and ground are best)

Directions:

1.  While your baguette is toasting combine the butter with all of the herbs and the pepper.  Stir until combined.  You could use and electric mixer with a paddle attachment, but honestly, why would you?  A tablespoon works perfectly.

2.  While your baguette is cooling, slice the radishes as thinly as you can.  I'm guessing a mandolin would be perfect here, but I can't say for sure.  I'm threw mine out, I like my fingers more than I like perfectly thin slices of radish.  Do it my way and call it rustic.

3.  Slather the herbed butter on your toasted baguette and layer a couple of radish slices on top.  You can finish it with some fancy salt or even a little lemon juice. 

Verdict:

This is a good one!  I served these with a light Turkey luncheon on Easter and they were a big hit.  At least I think they were.  I was too busy running around talking about French children and their after school snacks to really hear any reviews from my guests.  Something wonderful happens to radishes when they are combined with butter and salt.  Their crunch and slightly spicy quality are both mellowed and somehow highlighted.  I'm hoping that our herb garden thrives this Summer, if it does, I'll be serving this one a lot.  Long live the radish!