Tanaka: Roasted Radishes Rule
I went on a Vinecation and left you all in suspense. In our last episode, I was debating what to do with radishes. And then this box of goodies arrived! We did a lot of veggie prepping and eating before my trip out of the Vine.
RADISHES
The radishes from the previous box were first consumed the fancy French way (sliced, buttered, and sprinkled with salt). They were delicious, as is everything with butter. I also tried some diced in a salad with green olives: also good. But then the Twitterati weighed in. Radish eaters are a boisterous bunch who strongly prefer ROASTING these roots to tame their spicy flavor. I gave it a go. I cubed my remaining radishes, tossed them in olive oil and salt, and roasted away. The sharpness of the radishes mellowed in the heat and left them sweet and toothsome. Special thanks to those on #radishtwitter who weighed in!
ZUCCHINI
I wasn’t sure what to do with these bad boys. Then my husband took over, shredding a pound of zucchini to make an outstanding zucchini bread. The recipe required every appliance we own. It was delicious but we won’t make it again after the monumental clean up. My remaining zucchini sit quietly in our crisper, pondering their fate.
CABBAGE
Farm fresh produce is a mostly good thing, but there are some drawbacks. Without pesticides, refrigerated trucks, and grocery store aisles to keep pests at bay, you sometimes find something eating a fruit or vegetable before you get to it yourself. I’m not sure at which point in its life cycle slugs decided to move into this head of Napa cabbage but they were clearly the rightful owners. I pulled off the outer leaves hoping to find the rest of it pest free. After my fourth slug, I tossed it in the trash. So it goes in the wild world of CSA produce!
BLACKBERRIES
These guys were beautiful, fresh, juicy and sweet. And eaten immediately.
ARUGULA
In addition to my salad with radishes, I also made many salads with two components from Trader Joe’s: roasted artichoke hearts in oil, goat cheese, and crispy jalapeno pieces. The artichoke hearts were too oily. The goat cheese was great. But the crispy jalapeno pieces are a game changer: crunchy, salty, and spicy. The label recommends adding them to mashed potatoes. I say toss these into some greens and prepare your tastebuds for fireworks.
BROCCOLI
The stalks this week were too woody to bother with roasting. The resulting prep took half the time. It may be too late in the season for broccoli stems.
CAULIFLOWER
Some produce is beyond beautiful. This amethyst cauliflower made another appearance and no one complained about its looks or its taste.
TANGERINES
I like tangerines but I’m not eating these and neither is anyone else in my family. The mystery of which piece of citrus is from where deepens.
A TREAT
I keep telling my husband not to buy the giant bag of dried mango from Costco. It continues to appear. Some pieces are too dried out or tough. Some are perfectly chewy and tart-sweet, like an all natural fruit roll up. I do not digest these well. And yet I cannot keep my hands off these sunshine colored ribbons of mango joy.
Then we skipped a box…
Tune in next week to see what vegetable adventures await next week!
The contents of the Tanaka Farms CSA box change from week to week. You can see what’s in Tanaka’s CSA boxes each week online. Interested in enjoying some local organic produce? Sign up to join.