Patio Harvest: Greens with Radishes

The Patio Farm has been flourishing -- if slowly, given the lack of direct sun in the "middle" of winter here in the Sonoran Desert. The cooler weather and some recent spatterings of rain have greened everything up and made my plants lush and very edible looking. Time for a harvest meal. After all, what is the point of growing your own food if you don't intend to eat it?

One of my recent favorite dinner dishes lately has been greens with radishes. It is a simple idea, and one that is appropriately seasonal in Arizona. I realize that this is NOT the time of year for radishes for all of the northeast-dwellers, but you can either use your imagination, or break down and buy a bunch of them from the grocery store to go with your in-season winter greens.

I have been blessed this year with a plenitude of radishes, first from the Farm, and now from my patio garden as well. Radishes are not a vegetable that comes to mind too often for most folks, but they have come to really resonate with me and are my mascot vegetable as well. There is something so charming about a dainty little French Breakfast radish, a bouquet of multi-colored Easter Egg radishes, or the intense peppery and crisp bite into the magenta heart of a Watermelon radish. With all of the radishes available to me this fall I had to find some hew ways to eat them, besides adding to salads ... and thus Greens with Radishes was invented in my kitchen one evening. Since then, this recipe and its many variations have become a staple of weeknight dinner.



Greens with Radishes

1 bunch greens (kale, chard, spinach, etc.)
4 or 5 cloves garlic, crushed
5 or 6 radishes, sliced
olive oil
lemon juice (or vinegar)
optional: a handful of cashews or walnuts
optional: dry white wine

Wash the greens, remove tough stems, and chop the leaves into thin ribbons, or small pieces (an inch by an inch). Heat the oil in a pan wide or deep enough to accommodate the raw greens (they will shrink a lot during cooking). Add the garlic and salt & pepper and a splash of water (or wine) and cover and simmer for a few minutes to soften and mellow the garlic. Add the radishes (and nuts, if using) and then the greens and cover again. Toss the greens occasionally and cook until tender and bright green (only a few minutes for most tender greens). Remove from heat and add a splash of lemon juice or vinegar. Serve immediately and eat them all ... it doesn't get any better than this!