Plant your Gardens

Everybody in Missouri is excited for Spring to come. We just need one warm day and the buds on the trees will finally pop open and bloom. We need some color around here!

The first Saturday in April has always been garden-planting day in my family. I've attempted several times to grow a variety of seeds here at my apartment in Missouri, but I've concluded that I'm just not in the right location to plant anything, inside or outside. The angle of the sunlight, the soil, the humidity, and the wild animals are all against me. Someday I will have a garden of my own.

Anyways....I'm getting to my point here. I found this interesting recipe on Pinterest for roasted radishes, which made me think about the yearly vegetable garden. I never thought about cooking radishes before. I've mostly just eaten them raw, alone or sliced and tossed into green salads or in posole soup. And guess what I found at Aldi grocery store last week?! A bag of radishes! I just had to try it.

Review: Of course it was good! Otherwise I wouldn't be blogging about it! If you roast them just right they get a little crispy on the outside and a little soft on the inside. They lose their bitter tang and end up kind of like mini roasted red potatoes.

I did some research on the health benefits of radishes and here's a list of good stuff about these cute "little apples" (as Brett calls them).
1. High in fiber - good for digestive health, and...
2. Protect against colon cancer
3. High in Vitamin C
4. Contain minerals like potassium and zinc
5. Purify and detoxify the blood, allowing for greater absorption of oxygen and production of histamine - great for asthmatics
6. Low on the glycemic index, low in sugar - great for diabetics
7. Low in calories - great for people who are trying to lose weight

from Spoonforkbacon.com blog

Roasted Radishes

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:
1 bag radishes, rinsed, trimmed, and cut in half lengthwise
2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and toss together. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Spread radishes onto a baking sheet and roast for 20 to 25 minutes or until radishes have crisped and browned around the edges and have become almost fork tender.
4. Serve immediately. They cool fast.


Plant some radishes in your garden this year and try out this yummy side dish recipe. I served it with a creamy asparagus & spinach puff pastry I made up with leftover ingredients I had in my fridge from this past week's dinners. Baked them both at the same temperature for the same amount of time and had everything hot and ready all at once. 


Eat well, feel good!