Last week, on my facebook page, I mentioned planting radish seeds with the intent of using the leaves for cooking. Radishes come up quickly, and yield nutrient-dense leafy greens about as fast as any other vegetable. And they can do so in the cool early spring weather, right when I have little else in the garden to harvest for vegetables. Well, eating radish greens came as a surprise to one reader. So, I thought I'd show you a simple way to use radish greens.
Radish greens have a sharp taste, like mustard greens, turnip greens, or kale. So I like them best, blended with a milder vegetable, like cabbage, and sometimes onions.
Start with a skillet with about a tablespoon of fat. Obviously, for me, bacon fat or ham fat is preferred, but oil, and/or turkey fat or chicken fat also have been used successfully in my kitchen (I did this batch in turkey fat/vegetable oil blend, simply because I'm trying to use up the turkey fat).
Heat the skillet over Medium. Saute about 1/4 of an onion, sliced thin, until translucent (the onion is optional, in this batch I left it out, but it does add a sweetness to the dish).
Add about 2-3 cups shredded cabbage (this is a great way to use the outer layers on a new head of cabbage -- trim away any damaged parts, and thin-slice the rest). Saute until some leaves are beginning to brown on the edges.
Meanwhile, cut the leafy green portion of the radish leaves (from about 8-10 radishes) away from the tough stalks.
Fine chop the radish leaves (compost the stems -- don't even save them for your soup stock pot, would give a bitter taste to stock, yuk!).
Add to the cabbage/onions, and stir in. Add some garlic (1 clove, or 1/2 teaspoon garlic granules), and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Saute, just until the radish greens look vibrant green, but barely cooked. Serve.
Radish greens can also be added to broth-based soups, cream 'O green soups, quiche fillings and garden lasagna fillings (mixed with the cottage cheese/ricotta/mashed tofu).
Very basic, end of the month cooking this week in our kitchen!
