The Purloined Recipe

Excerpted with permission from Farmer John’s Cookbook: the Real Dirt On Vegetables: Seasonal Recipes and Stories from a Community Farm by Farmer John Peterson and Angelic Organics (Gibbs Smith, Publisher). www.AngelicOrganics.com/cookbook

This recipe is a take on a classic from Japan that uses daikon radish greens. Of course, if you still have some of those tasty roots attached to your leaves, they will be delicious cubed and cooked to tender-crisp succulence right along with the leaves. You will find miso paste in the refrigerated section of most specialty stores, health food stores, and many supermarkets. If you are unfamiliar with its distinct flavor, start with a light-colored variety for a milder, sweeter taste.

Toasted sesame oil, also widely available, has a deep, roasted sesame flavor that makes any dish taste unique. Untoasted, or “light,” sesame oil will not impart the same flavor.

Serves 2

1 bunch radish or turnip greens or both
1 tablespoon miso paste
1 tablespoon peanut oil
Sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 cups hot cooked rice

1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot. Add the greens and boil for 1 minute.
2. Drain the greens in a colander and run cool water over them to stop the cooking. Let drain again, then gently squeeze out any excess water with your hands. Transfer the greens to a cutting board. Chop finely and set aside.
3. Put the miso paste in a small bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons water; then add a little more water so that the miso is thinned just enough to stir into other ingredients.
4. Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped greens; cook, stirring until they are tender and heated through. Add the thinned miso paste. Add sugar to taste; stir the ingredients until thoroughly combined. Remove from heat; stir in the toasted sesame oil. Serve over rice.

Recipes By Ingredient, The Recipes, other greens, radishes, side dishes

Makes 6 servings

6 slices bacon
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp water
2 tsp sugar
½ tsp ground black pepper
8 c. leaf lettuce, washed, dried and torn into pieces
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1 hard cooked egg, optional
8 radishes, thinly sliced, optional

1. Cook bacon over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove from skillet, crumble and set aside. Reserve drippings.
2. Combine lettuce and green onions in large bowl.
3. To the hot bacon drippings, add vinegar, lemon juice, water, sugar and pepper. Stir over medium heat until hot and sugar is dissolved.
4. Add warm dressing and toss to evenly coat. Sprinkle with bacon. If desired, garnish with egg and radishes. Serve immediately.

Recipes By Ingredient, The Recipes, lettuce, onions, radishes, salads, side dishes

Serves 8-10

3 cucumbers
3 large oranges
15 small red radishes
A few fresh mint leaves, coarsely minced
Salt
Olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon, more to taste

Peel cucumber and slice very thinly. Peel the orange by cutting away the skin,
through the white pith, down to the orange pulp. Cut in half and slice thinly.
Rinse the radishes and slice very thinly. Put the cucumber, orange and radishes
in the bowl. Add the mint leaves. (This salad can be prepared ahead up to this
point.) Just before serving add salt, lemon juice and olive oil to taste and toss
well.

Recipes By Ingredient, The Recipes, cucumbers, mint, radishes, salads

(recipe from the book Local Flavors used with permission of the author, Deborah Madison)

Serves 2 - 4.

4 slender leeks, including a little of the pale green, or 1 bunch scallions
6 carrots, yellow and/or orange, 3 to 4 inches long
12 little turnips with their greens
1 bunch radishes-pink, red, or purple, with ½ inch of their stems
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound fava beans, if available, shucked
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Slice the leeks crosswise about ¼ inch wide, then rinse them in a bowl of
   water and drain. Cut all but ½ inch of the carrot greens off, peel the carrots, and
   slice them in half lengthwise. Leave ½ inch of the turnip greens attached. Peel
   with a paring knife up to the shoulders. Leave smaller ones whole and cut larger
   ones into halves or quarters. Halve the radishes lengthwise; soak them briefly in
   a bowl of water, then rinse, especially the stems.
2. Bring 6 cups water to a boil and add 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Blanch the carrots, turnips, and radishes for 7 minutes, then scoop out and set aside. Drop the fava beans into the water for 1 minute, and then scoop them out, saving the cooking water, and rinse to cool. Pop them out of their skins.
3. Melt half the butter in a 8 or 10 inch sauté pan. Add the leeks and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, Add ½ cup of the vegetable cooking water, the blanched vegetables, half the herbs, and ½ teaspoon salt. Simmer until the vegetables are fully tender, 10 to 15 minutes, adding water in
   1/3 cup increments so that the pan doesn’t dry out. There should be a little
   sauce.
4. Add the fava beans, remaining butter, and lemon juice Raise the heat and
   swirl the pan back and forth until the butter has melted into the juice. Remove
   from the heat, add the rest of the herbs, season with pepper, and serve. If you’ve
   made the dumplings, add them during the last 5 minutes so that they’ll heat
   through.

carrots, leeks, onions, parsley, radishes, side dishes, turnips

(recipe from the book Local Flavors used with permission of the author, Deborah Madison)

Makes ½ cup.

A good radish sandwich can be nothing more than sweet butter spread on bread and topped with sliced radishes and sea salt. But you might find that this is an easier way for getting the radishes and butter on quickly (and getting them to stay on), especially if you’re making radish sandwiches for a crowd.

6 radishes-French Breakfast radishes or a mixture of red, purple, and pink radishes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Sea salt

1. Wash and trim the radishes. If the leaves are tender and fresh, set a dozen or so aside, stems removed. Slice the radishes into thin rounds, then crosswise into narrow strips. Each should be tipped with color. Chop the leaves. You should have about ½ cup.
2. Mix the butter with the lemon zest until it’s soft, then stir in the chopped
   radishes, radish leaves, and a pinch of salt. Spread on slices of crusty baguette
   and serve.

butters, radishes

(recipe from the book Local Flavors used with permission of the author, Deborah Madison)

Serves 4 as a main dish.

It’s pre-tomato season in June, but the first green beans, tender little carrots, and French Breakfast radishes fit quite nicely with a few handfuls of lettuce, herbs, and fleshy purslane leaves. Tuna packed in oil or smoked fish-salmon, tuna, albacore, which can often be found at farmers’ markets—makes the salad into a meal.

1 sweet onion, thinly sliced into rounds
1/4 cup aged red wine vinegar
1 pound small potatoes, any waxy fleshed variety
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 ½ pounds green beans, one variety or several
1 bunch little carrots
several handfuls salad greens or small head lettuces
a handful purslane sprigs or big sunflower sprouts
several herb sprigs, such as chervil, marjoram, lovage, chives
2 garlic cloves
1 can anchovies, packed in olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, drained, or an 8-ounce chunk smoked albacore,
thinly sliced
3 tablespoons smallest capers, rinsed
1 bunch radishes

1. Heat a large pot of water for the vegetables. Toss the onion with 2 tablespoons of the vinegar and set in the refrigerator.
2. Wash the potatoes, then put them in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, add 1 teaspoon salt, and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender when pierced with a knife, about 25 minutes, then drain. Cut the stem ends off the beans, along with the tails if they’re tough. If the carrots are small and tender, you don’t need to
   peel them. Leave them whole or halve lengthwise with about an inch of the stems. Wash and dry the lettuces and herbs.
3. Mash the garlic with ½ teaspoon salt and 2 anchovies in a mortar. Whisk in the mustard, the remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar, and the oil, making a thick,
   emulsified dressing.
4. When the water boils, season well with salt, then add the beans and cook until tender but still a little firm, 4 to 8 minutes, depending on the varieties. Scoop
   them out and put them on a towel to dry briefly, then toss them, while still hot,
   with half of the dressing. Season with salt and pepper and heap them in the
   center of the platter. Boil the carrots until tender-firm, 4 to 6 minutes or so, then
   drain and dress lightly.
5. Arrange the lettuces on the platter. Place the tuna at either end, breaking it up slightly. Halve the potatoes and arrange them on the platter. Spoon the
   remaining dressing over the lettuces and potatoes and scatter capers over all,
   along with the onions, drained of their vinegar. Lay the remaining anchovies over
   the potatoes. Tuck in the radishes and carrots; add the purslane and herb sprigs.
   Season everything with pepper. Present the salad arranged. Toss it before serving.

beans, carrots, entrees, garlic, lettuce, lovage, onions, potatoes, radishes, salads