Kohlrabi Daikon Slaw with Bits of Dates and Sunflower Seeds

I think the title sums up this dish well, nothing more to write...

Julienne some kohlrabi, Daikon radish, carrots, and thinly slice some red onions. Toss together with a quick homemade dressing and serve fresh.

Of late, I am addicted to the chopped dates rolled in oat flour - my mum-in-law gave me a giant 4 pound container of it. I've been making Date-tamarind chutney for Bhel puri with it, adding it to oatmeal and salads... it's been fun to try and use these sweet treats in different dishes.

Thanks to heavy rainfall, my Kale is still doing fine in the home garden; the onions have sprung up with these lovely shoots, reminding me of Spring when it is just mid-Autumn. Some Lemon drop chilies are still hanging on to the plant as well.

Ingredients
2.5 to 3 cups of julienned veggies - Daikon, Kohlrabi, Carrots, Onions
(Optional: Thinly slice one lemon drop chili and add it as garnish if the eater is up for it)
¼ to ⅓ cup chopped dates (rolled in oat flour)
¼ cup roasted seasoned sunflower seeds

Dressing:
2 Tbsp thick plain Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 tsp Franks Red Hot Sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard

Garnish:
Baby kale leaves
thinly sliced lemon drop chilies
chopped spring onions

Whisk or blend the dressing ingredients, toss in with the slaw and serve garnished.

Pan-roasted Radish and Brussels Sprouts

I

A big bunch of rainbow radish hop-skip-and-jumped into my shopping basket at the farmers market.

Rather than adding it raw to salads or cooking Indian-style Dal or Sambar, I went with a searing and pan-roasting them with Brussels sprouts.  Flavoring with Balsamic vinegar, mirin, and Braggs Liquid Aminos, and sautéing the radish greens along with the radishes and Brussels sprouts, seemed to make the dish all the more appealing.

Brussles Sprouts by themselves are relished in many ways at home, a few of which are shared in the Brussels Sprouts Fete post about four years ago. And, am sure this combo of radishes and Brussles sprouts can be cooked in any of those delicious methods.

With some Tabbouleh and pan-roasted sweet potato medallions, the roasted radish and Brussels sprouts rounded out a simple but filling weeknight meal.

The sweet potato medallions were roasted on a cast iron skillet with a touch of brown sugar for caramelization. 

Tabbouleh, a quick and simple salad,  tastes even better the next day. Just some chopped celery, carrots, purple cabbage, sweet onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, feta, walnuts, apples, cranberries, parsley tossed with softened bulgur. Of course, bulgur is high in carbs, complex carbs - but also high in fiber and low in fat, plus has a nice amount of protein. Being a low GI food, I like that it is easy to make and is good all round.

The dressing is just lime/lemon juice and olive oil, some salt to taste, plus a splash of orange zest for this tabbouleh.

I had a small lump of Jalapeño goat cheese and served small discs of it as garnish to add a bite to the roasted radish and Brussels sprouts.

Roasted Golden Beets, Purple Radish, Scallop Squash

A very simple dish, but, a huge favorite. The fresh golden beets and colorful radish from the farm were too good to pass up.

Red onions, Beet greens' stems, Radish green's stems came together with chunky cut vegetables in a hot cast iron skillet with a bit of oil to create this magic.

A dash of balsamic vinegar and white vinegar, plus some salt and black pepper is all the flavoring involved here.

Purple Radish, Gold Beets, Beet & Radish Greens, and Carrots with Coconut

Picked up some fresh veggies bursting with color at the farm and couldn't bring myself to cook them...

Of course, couldn't let them wilt and shrivel either.

So, made this simple dish that showcases the varying flavors and bright colors.

1. Clean, dice, and par-cook the carrots, gold beets, and purple radish in the microwave for about 4 mins
2. Meanwhile, clean, chop, and saute the beet greens and radish greens, with some diced onions and a touch of coconut oil
3. Drain and toss the cooked beets, radish, and carrots with the greens, adjust salt, allow to cook together
4. Meanwhile, grind some coconut and green chilies together - about ⅓ cup grated coconut with 1 Serrano chili; then stir this into the veggies in the pan
5. Tempering (optional): Heat coconut oil in a small pan, when shimmering add the mustard seeds and when they pop, add the cumin seeds and when they splutter, remove from heat and toss it into the veggies.
6. Serve warm with rice or roti; or enjoy as-is.

Wide Rice Noodles with Pickled Beets, Radish, Carrots

Sometimes the simplest of flavors give the most satisfaction. Pickled vegetables is an easy yet flavorful way of adding interest to everyday noodles. For a warm summer evening, cool wide rice noodles with chilled pickled vegetables is a treat.

Cook the wide rice noodles per package direction, drain and rinse in cold water. Then toss with some sesame oil and pickled vegetables; and serve with some extra pickled veggies on the side.

Radish, Beets, Red onions, Green beans, Shallots, White Home Garden Pearl Onions are a few of the usual veggies I pickle at home.

1. Combine 1 cup of vinegar (white, cider, champagne, rice, any combination) with ½ cup of water, bring to a boil; optionally, add any pickling spices (whole black pepper, dry red chilies, cloves, coriander)
2. Slice or cut veggies into preferred size and place in a canning jar; sprinkle some salt, a bit of honey if preferred
3. Pour the boiling vinegar solution onto the veggies in the jar till veggies are fully immersed; cover and allow to cool. Refrigerate after cooling for upto a week.

Edible Radish Seed Pods Salad

Crunchy. Peppery. Fresh. Delicious. 

Radish fruit/siliqua or seed pods are bursting at this time in our garden and I am using them liberally in my cooking these days.

When we first started growing radish in our home garden, I was not sure what to expect. I love radish but more than that I relish the mildly bitter radish greens. The first time I laid eyes on the radish flowers - beautiful lilac and white ones - I was smitten.

And then, when we let it go to seed, the seed pods were a fantastic discovery.

Crisp spring greens topped with radish seed pods, some toasted unsalted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, and a drizzling of Pear Gorgonzola dressing makes a fantastic spring salad.

Sauteed Radish Greens

We finally harvested all the radish from our home garden. We let some of them flower and go to seed so we can save them for the next crop. Radish flowers we had were simply gorgeous from white to pale lilac to beautiful purple.



Seed saving is a changing/evolving field and there are many publications that provide useful information. But, a fairly comprehensive compendium of sorts that sits on our bookshelf providing valuable insights into basic techniques on saving vegetable seeds is a book called Seed To Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. (Thanks for giving it to us, Mom!)

Anyway, we had a lot of radish greens to use up. The stalks were too woody and mature, but I had plenty of tender leaves to make a simple sautéed radish greens dish that preserves the mildly bitter flavor of the greens while complementing it with a sweet and sour taste that comes together rather well.

I used the onions from our garden - both the white bulb and the green parts - but, red onion or yellow onion would be good. The onions went to flower as well and needed to be used up... which meant most of the stalks got woody and fibrous. C'est la vie.



Ingredients
6 cups of fresh radish greens, washed
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
onions, garlic, ginger, finely chopped - as much as preferred
¼ cup lemon juice
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp Sambal Oelek
¼ tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
1 Tbsp smoke paprika powder (optional)
salt to taste
1 Tbsp canola oil
sesame seeds (optional)
½ cup water (more as needed)

Preparation

1. Sauté the onions, garlic and ginger in some oil, then add the greens and sun-dried tomatoes, saué a bit
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover and cook till greens is done to your liking; taste and adjust flavors as desired
3. Serve warm with plain hot basmati rice and home-made flavored ghee, or with naan, or enjoy as-is

Home-garden Radish Tops Dal

We harvested the white radishes from our garden. I didn't have the heart to throw away the radish tops/greens, so, decided to make a soupy dal out of it.

These are fairly bitter greens, so, adjust flavors to taste - I added lemon juice and brown sugar to balance and round out the bitterness, and some tomatoes. Plus, Ras al Hanout was handy, so, I added a generous amount of it to give this dal a unique flavor.

The dal recipe is not very different from my Kohlrabi dal recipe, except, I was low on moong dal, so, I used just a cup of dal for about 6 cups of chopped radish greens.