Radish Salad--With Exotic Dressing

For a very long time I have been trying to convince my kids to eat radish. No success so far. One prefers cucumbers, the other tomatoes but none of them is into radish. I have a lot of sentiment for radish, which years ago, in early spring was often the only fresh vegetable available in Poland and the first one that was growing in my parents yard. As a child I loved it sliced on bread with butter, just sprinkled with salt and dusted with dill. The other times we sliced it and together with fresh aromatic cucumbers served on farmers or cottage cheese. A little bit similar to that is one radish salad I posted some time ago with ricotta salata, one of my favorite spring salads.

The other day I bought two very fresh and pink bunches of radish, hoping that this time at least one of my boys would like it. But I was left with all the beautiful radishes for myself. That was an opportunity to try a new recipe, which I found in my always inspiring Met Home magazine. It was called Moroccan. All the ingredients were indeed coming from the Moroccan cuisine but it was new to me that radish was popular also over there. Radish made that way is mostly marinated in a special sauce and then topped with goat cheese. Without that topping it can be served as any dinner and meat accompaniment. Radish served with sweet goat cheese and bread make a very satisfying whole meal, which I really enjoyed last Saturday.

Moroccan Radish Salad

Ingredients:
2 bunches radish (about 4 cups) sliced,
4 oz of goat cheese, room temperature,
1/4 cup sliced, toasted almonds,
1/4 cup sliced dried apricots,
1/4 cup minced scallions,
2 tsp rice vinegar,
2 tsp lemon juice,
1 tsp harrisa (North African chili paste available in Middle Eastern groceries),
2 tsp honey,
1 shallot, minced,
1 garlic clove ,minced,
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil,
3 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, chopped,
salt and pepper.

Preparation:
1. Wash radish and slice it.

Place in a medium bowl. Add chopped cilantro and mix.

2. In a small bowl mix vinegar, lemon juice, harrisa, honey, shallot, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour over the radish.

3. Put goat cheese in a small bowl and press it with a fork until soft. Add almonds, apricots, scallions and extra pepper. Mix well. You can do that using an electric mixer.

To serve, divide radish between four plates, top with goat cheese and serve with bread.

Crispy Radish Salad

I got this recipe almost thirty years ago from a Polish-German lady who was spending her summer vacations every year at the same Baltic town I went to with my parents. It was a revelation. This salad was crunchy and fresh while most salads I knew at that time were made from cooked vegetables. All ingredients needed to make it were readily available in Poland during the summer months except for ricotta salata. I used quark cheese (Polish farmer's cheese) instead but I had to first dry it for about a week. A very firm and dry feta cheese could also be used, but an authentic ricotta salata would always be better.

You will enjoy this salad with a sandwich for lunch or as a side dish with an afternoon grill. Kids like it because it contains all the crispy summer vegetables that they like to munch on.

Crispy Radish Salad

Ingredients:
2 large firm heirloom tomatoes,
1 English cucumber,
1 bunch of radish,
3 cloves of garlic,
1/2 cup chopped dill,
1/2 lb ricotta salata,
1 cup of fresh or sour cream,
1 tsp of sweet paprika,
pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. Peel off cucumber, cut into small cubes.
2. Slice tomato, cut into small cubes.
3. Cut radish into small cubes.



4. Finally cut Ricotta Salata the same way, into tiny cubes.
5. Chop dill.
6. Mix all the vegetables in a bowl.
7. Squeeze or grate in garlic cloves.
8. Add pepper, paprika and cream.
9. Stir gently and put aside for 30 minutes to allow all the flavors to mix.