Quick-Pickled Watermelon Radishes
These quick and easy pickled watermelon radishes add bright flavor to all sorts of dishes, along with a beautiful burst of color.
Ingredients:
½ cup rice vinegar
½ cup water
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
8-10 medium to large watermelon radishes, peeled and sliced thinly crosswise
Method:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar until sugar and salt are fully dissolved. Add the radishes and toss to coat. Lay a clean paper towel on the surface to keep the radishes submerged. Let marinate for at least 15 minutes before serving. Pickled radishes can be packed into a jar with their brine and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
The Italian Spring Recipes
This week’s lineup combines a bevy of fresh spring produce—from verdant greens to vibrant red radishes—with the soulful flavors of Italy, also including smoky, nitrate-free bacon, fresh bucatini pasta, and silky duck eggs that are all begging to star in pasta carbonara for supper (see the enclosed recipe suggestions for that one!). Also including fun Italian-style pantry provisions such as pillowy focaccia bread, farmstead Caciotta cheese and soft amaretti cookies with chocolate, as well as spring daffodils, this box will transport you abroad, all without leaving your very own kitchen. Mangia!
Here are a few recipe ideas for the week:
Duck Egg Carbonara Pasta with Bacon
Creamy and indulgent, simple and satisfying, this classic-style carbonara dish gets an added boost from this week’s silky duck eggs.
Roasted Radishes with Brown Butter & Lemon
The sweet, nutty brown butter here lends a beautiful finishing touch.
Italian Parsley-Caper Vinaigrette
This adaptation of the pungent vinaigrette from Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables is magical drizzled over roasted vegetables or spring greens!
Sweet Onion Confit
This buttery-sweet topping is wonderful in sandwiches or even atop crackers.
Arugula Pesto
Stash this bright, zippy pesto in your freezer to add to the likes of pastas, soups or even roasted vegetables.
A Taste of Tex-Mex Recipes
This week’s sunny forecast is well complemented by an equally bright lineup of Tex-Mex and summer favorites: Enjoy spicy chorizo sausage, Peruvian Mayocoba beans, spicy jalapeño peppers from Skagit County and locally-crafted, hand-pressed tortillas for taco night, as well as crunchy snap peas, cilantro, green cabbage, mixed summer squash, baby fennel, and more finds from the garden to incorporate into summery sides. Also found in your box: Farm-fresh eggs, garlic scapes and a sweet market bouquet of blooms. Here’s to good weather—and great eating!
Here are a few recipe ideas for the week:
How-To: Cook Mayocoba Beans
You can enjoy these beans straight out of the pot, or save and prepare them refried-style later!
Cabbage Slaw with Fennel & Cilantro
This light, fresh dish is fantastic on tacos, pulled pork sandwiches or simply served as a summery side.
Chorizo Frittata
This savory-spicy frittata is delicious served for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner!
Beet & Snap Pea Salad
This colorful salad is perfectly complemented by a lemon-honey vinaigrette.
Lemon-Honey Vinaigrette
This lovely vinaigrette is bright with lemon juice, sweet honey and fresh parsley.
Pan-Braised Radishes & Greens
Pan-roasting radish mellows its spice, lending tender texture to this side dish.
Pan-Braised Radishes & Greens
Pan-braising radishes mellows their spice, lending tender texture to this side dish.
Ingredients:
1 large bunch radishes with greens*
1 shallot, minced
4 teaspoons butter
Water
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
¼ cup fresh parsley or tarragon, chopped
Method:
1. Trim greens from radishes, leaving a bit of the green stem intact. Place greens and radishes in a large bowl of cold water and let soak for at least five minutes. Remove greens and set in a colander to drain. Dry off radishes and slice in half.
2. In a large sauté pan, melt three teaspoons of the butter and sweat the minced shallots over medium heat for a minute or so. Add radishes to the pan, season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour in water to almost cover the radishes. Bring to a simmer, partially cover the pan, and cook until the radishes are knife tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Remove lid and add the greens to the pan. Cover and cook for a minute or two more, until the greens have somewhat wilted. Transfer greens and radishes to a large serving bowl, leaving juices remaining in pan.
3. Bring juices to a simmer, and reduce until no more than a quarter cup remains. Add a teaspoon more of butter and stir to incorporate it with the juices.
4. Finely chop the herbs and add it to the bowl. Pour reduced juices over top and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper as necessary.
*Feel free to use a mixture of this week’s trio of radishes for a beautiful array of color!
