close

Radish Salad

If you are unfamiliar, watermelon radishes are supremely beautiful. Their deep pink/magenta color is eye-catching and adds a real pop to any ordinary salad. Watermelon radishes are considered a heirloom Chinese Daikon radish and a member of the mustard family (along with arugula, broccoli, and turnips–who knew!). Typically, watermelon radishes are available during the spring and fall, since they are a cool season crop. Overly warm temperatures can affect the radish’s mild flavor, turning it rather bitter–I learned this the hard way.

I was first introduced to a watermelon radish when it appeared on a brine-pickled vegetable board my husband and I ordered at Nick Balla and Cortney Burns’ well-known (but now closed) Bar Tartine in San Francisco. Since then, I have noticed its popularity and availability have increased. Its flesh is tender yet crisp, and its flavor is mild, with a slight peppery note. Depending on when it is harvested, watermelon radishes can vary in size from a golf ball to a baseball. This lesser-known radish can be eaten fresh (which is what I prefer) or cooked, and it goes well with various other vegetables, such as fennel, apple, cucumbers, mild greens, and soft cheeses like Feta and chèvre.watermelon radish

Both my husband and I are big salad eaters. We eat them almost daily. I am, however, somewhat picky about my salads, I like them interesting and I like them to look beautiful. A nice presentation is important. This was further engrained in me during culinary school when I had to log countless hours carving vegetables into very precise shapes and sizes.

I came up with this easy little salad for my husband, who has always been a radish lover. One of the best salads he ever had was also at Bar Tartine. It consisted of fresh radishes, homemade sweet cream butter, and flake salt. I thought he was crazy when he ordered it; but the waitress was right, it was incredible. Sometimes, the most basic recipe is the best. Despite trying, I could not recreate that perfect radish and butter salad, (primarily because I do not grow my radishes, or make my butter); but I created this one instead. I make this often: it’s easy and I typically have all of these ingredients in my refrigerator. My kids also like this salad. Well, they like everything except the radishes. That is still a work in progress. But they’ll get there eventually.

radish salad

About the Author

Andrea Potischman

I am a professionally trained NYC chef turned CA mom and food blogger. I post about real food, with doable ingredient lists that are family friendly.

3 thoughts on "Radish Salad"

  1. Avatar photo Amy Thornborrow says:

    I made this salad last night- super easy and beautiful- and for my own portion I added in toasted chick peas to make it into my main course. What a light and satisfying meal!

  2. Avatar photo Tracy Woelfel says:

    My 2 year old just discovered radishes. I will try this for her!

  3. Avatar photo Amy Thornborrow says:

    We get these watermelon radishes in our CSA box and have been at a loss for something interesting to do with them… no longer… cannot wait to try this recipe!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comment Policy

Simmer + Sauce reserves the right to remove or restrict comments that do not contribute constructively to the topic conversation, contain profanity or offensive language, personal attacks, or seek to promote a personal or unrelated business. Any post found to be in violation of any of these guidelines will be modified or removed without warning. When making a comment on my blog, you grant Simmer + Sauce permission to reproduce your content to our discretion, an example being for a possible endorsement or media kit purposes. If you don’t want your comment to be used for such purposes, please explicitly state this within the body of your comment. If you find evidence of copyright infringement in the comments of simmerandsauce.com, contact me and I will remove that in question promptly.