A fantastic spring dish featuring those colorful bunches of red and white radishes with vibrant greens on top! An easy, quick and satisfying vegetarian meal with bright flavors and colors. The crisp zestiness of raw radish and sumac contrast beautifully with the soft, buttery notes of browned radish and silky greens. A few crunchy almonds and sweet bits of raisin add to the culinary bliss.
 |
| Radish 3-ways with hazelnut brown butter couscous |
Back in the heart of the pandemic, I had some extra time to try new recipes and fell in love with the Brown Butter Couscous with Spring Vegetables on the Food52 site, by Emily C. It was a brightly colored, extremely flavorful and easily customized dish that I found myself wanting to make every time I saw a beautiful bunch of radish greens.
 |
| Brown Butter Couscous with Spring Vegetables |
Because it was the greens that really caught my eye, telling me the radish roots were fresh, I was loathe to throw them away. Having learned how delicious beet greens can be, I added chopped radish greens to the spinach.
With time, I started to skip the other spring vegetables, and once I tried using za'atar instead of just plain sumac. Za'atar is fantastic sprinkled on all sorts of things, from toasted pita to roasted cauliflower to marinated chicken kababs. Of course, the first time I tried that, the thyme in the za'atar burned, so I had to modify the recipe further.
This dish has bright bold flavors and colors, with acid from the lovely red sumac and lemon juice and sharp, crisp bites of raw radish contrasting beautifully with the soft rich, burnished melt-in-your-mouth wedges of radish wedges browned in butter. A few crunchy almonds, sweet bits of raisin, and optional bursts of feta cheese add to the culinary bliss.
