Hi farm heroes, glad you've joined us for another season! Now, if you got a share last week you're probably wondering what to do with all the radish and sprouts, right? We had both fresh from the field bunched radish, and radish from our wonderful Winter radish collection. Here are some how-to-use radish tips for you.
What radish is this?
watermelon: white and green/pinkish on skin with pink/white/scarlet flesh in fantastic patterns
schwartzer runder: black skin, white flesh, a.k.a. Eastern European healing radish
daikon: (not available last week) purple or white skin with same interior, a.k.a. Japanese or Korean radish
sora: small, round, red
french breakfast: elongated with distinctive pink/white
How do I use radish?
Hint: resist throwing the greens out, they're good for salad, pesto, stir-fry, steaming, blending into soup and so on. As they have a strong flavour and tend to be a bit hairy, we suggest fine chopping them, except for steaming/blending options
Grate: grate into salad, or grate/zest as a topping for soup or in your favourite sandwich. Or, pour a little sesame oil, soy sauce or other favourite topping over a provocative pile of grated/zested radish. Grated/zested choice is about mouth feel more than anything, so prepare as you prefer once you've tried both ways
Slice: naturally you can slice radish and then cut in half-moons for salad / stir-frys, but have you considered thinly sliced radish salted as a side to go with your beer? It's a great raw snack!
Steam: this method is one of farmer Tim's favourites. You may use a steamer, but he likes to cube a radish, stick it on the baking tray when he's roasting veggies, pour oil / sauce over it, and turn a ramekin upside down over it so it steams to perfection while the veggies caramelize (you could use this method in a microwave).
Sprouts glorious sprouts!
We don't need to tell you all the benefits of freshly sprouted seed, or do we? About the amazing energy they give when they're at the height of their growth into little plants? About the bold flavours and enzymatic powers they contain? But we do have recipes to share
Raw: pop them in your mouth. Don't be shy. Take a pinch or a handful. If all the sprouts are gone, save the recipes below for next time!
Salad: make a sprout salad or top another (spinach, lettuce, kale) salad with sprouts. For sprout salad mix them up in a bowl and top with a simple vinaigrette.
Humus: yes, the Crunchy Bean sprouts are particularly good for humus, but any of the sprouts can be included. Making humus with them keeps them raw, so good for you, and adds garlic, tahini, oil, and so on to make dip or spread for, let's say, radish?!
This week we have rhubarb and asparagus coming to you again. Soon we expect to be popping garlic scapes in your share. Can't wait to share our favourite bean dip recipe with you.
Our current farm challenge is keeping everything sufficiently watered in this dry, windy weather reality. Doing our best, and so glad you're in it with us. It takes a community to raise vegetables. Your dollars spent are your participation in our farm's acts of mystery: tending soil, reducing carbon footprint, harvesting and distributing veg, caring for pollinators and all manner of other organisms on the farm.
