Herbed roasted radishes

With a crunchy texture and peppery taste, radishes have been eaten since ancient times as an appetiser. As Jane Grigson says in her Vegetable Book*, radishes “clear the taste and prepare for drink or food”.

In their simplest form they are served just with salt. Or sometimes with salt and butter - the radish is spread with butter and then dipped into the salt.

As they're easy to grow they appear in many summer salads.

But radishes can be made into soups. Rather than the small radishes with red skin and white flesh that we have here in the UK soups are often made with the larger daikon (also known as winter, Oriental or Chinese radish)

I love sliced radishes in a middle eastern salad, like fattoush. And they're also lovely pickled and served alongside spicy dishes. Or in Asian sandwiches such as the Vietnamese banh mi.

But they’re also delicious roasted and served as a side dish. And that's what I'm going to show you how to do here.

Radish season

British radishes are in season from roughly May to October, although they can usually be bought all year round.

They're easy to grow - in fact my son grew radishes from seed at the age of 5. Although he then didn't want to eat them! How to grow radishes.

What do they taste like?

Radish is well known for its peppery taste. Roasting the radishes however helps them to lose some of this fiery taste and they become much milder.

If you’ve found raw radishes to be too peppery for your taste then give these roasted radishes a try.

Ingredients for roasted radishes

You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make roasted radishes. Here's what you need:

• Radishes
  Halve smaller ones, quarter larger ones
• Olive oil
  For roasting and flavour
• Salt and pepper
  To season to perfection
• Fresh herbs
  Flat leaf parsley or mint go well
• Lemon juice
  Adds a lovely tang to your roasted radishes

Serving suggestions

Roasted radishes are a delicious side dish. They go well with a spread of summer dips and salads.

If you'd like to make more of a meal out of them you could try:

• mixing with pulses eg lentils or chickpeas
• topping with toasted pine nuts or seeds
• stirring through grains eg couscous, freekeh, rice or bulgur wheat

Equipment

To make this recipe you will need:

• chopping board*
• sharp knife*
• roasting dish*

Storage

In the fridge

If you’re not eating immediately allow to cool and then transfer to an airtight container.

Store in the fridge for up to three days and eat hot or cold.

Freezing

Roasted radishes can also be frozen. Allow to cool and transfer to a freezer box or bag.

Be sure to label and date.

When ready to eat defrost in the fridge overnight and then reheat until piping hot.

Other things to make with radishes

• Watercress, radish and asparagus salad
• Chickpea, radish and potato traybake
• Roasted radish with asparagus
• Mushroom, radish and cashew noodles
• Radish soup

Or if you like roasted vegetables you'll love this recipe for roasted purple sprouting broccoli.

How to roast radishes

1. Preheat the oven. Halve the radishes. Particularly large ones should be quartered. Place in a small roasting dish.
   
2. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
   
3. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring half way until soft.
   
4. Stir through lemon juice and chopped herbs.