Radish ponderings

[Hernaic Tom]

That refers to me pondering radishes, not the radishes having a good old ponder!

Are the leaves of radishes edible or worth eating? I know you can get radish leaf which is grown for the production of leaves over the tuber, but are the leaves of those radishes grown to produce radishes any good for eating?

Also, once they have gone to seed, can you eat the flowers and leaves of the radish plants? Once again, I know you can get varieties that are grown specifically for the edible seed pods but are those of normal radishes any good?

And finally... How straightforward is the collection of radish seed for the next generation of plants?

I went to a friend's birthday celebrations yesterday, and gave her the biggest, brightest radish from my plot, as a "Birthday Radish!!" She was chuffed!!

[MKG]

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

Radishes are brassicas - every part of the plant is edible. Certainly the young leaves are quite tasty, although I don't know how tough they may become later. If you let them grow on, the root becomes very tough but the seed pods as a whole are edible whilst green. If you let them go all the way, the dries seeds are also edible, sprinkled on a salad.

Collecting seed is easy - when the pods begin to dry, snip them off and allow to dry completely in the kitchen somewhere. Then simply crack open the pods.

Mike

EDIT: By the way, an adult radish is a substantially large plant.

[JessieMac]

When my radish grow too big and tough I slice them thinly and use in a stirfry instead of water chestnuts and also add the leaves shredded. they are very good.

[indy]

For me personally I made a radish leaf soup from a recipe I found in one f my wild food books, I hope someone can prove me wrong but the soup was just DREADFUL , I have never been brave enough to try again so for me while they are edible, they are not worth eating

[chickenchargrill]

I've made pesto with the leaves, which was yummy. Also shoved some in a stir fry, nice too. Not tried any of the soup recipes yet.

[mollypea]

I discovered the joy of eating radish seed pods this year - got lots of nice round roots early in the summer but then a load bolted when it got hotter. Read somewhere that you could eat the pods and they are really tasty - mild radishy flavour. Had so many that I tried pickling a jar-full, which are quite nice but not as good as fresh. Found the leaves a bit hairy and not very pleasant in a salad but OK cooked.

[Millymollymandy]

I can't touch the leaves without them prickling me and making my skin crawl so I have never tried to eat them!

[Hernaic Tom]

I've made pesto with the leaves, which was yummy. Also shoved some in a stir fry, nice too. Not tried any of the soup recipes yet.

Wow, very interesting idea! Do you just use the leaves in place of basil in traditional pesto?

[Hernaic Tom]

I discovered the joy of eating radish seed pods this year - got lots of nice round roots early in the summer but then a load bolted when it got hotter. Read somewhere that you could eat the pods and they are really tasty - mild radishy flavour. Had so many that I tried pickling a jar-full, which are quite nice but not as good as fresh. Found the leaves a bit hairy and not very pleasant in a salad but OK cooked.

There are a number of varieties you can grow that have been bred to produce more seed pods... There's a German variety that someone on my allotment is growing, the name of which temporarily escapes me.... I'll be back!

[chickenchargrill]

I've made pesto with the leaves, which was yummy. Also shoved some in a stir fry, nice too. Not tried any of the soup recipes yet.

Wow, very interesting idea! Do you just use the leaves in place of basil in traditional pesto?

Pretty much, yes. I used this recipe -

Radish Leaf Pesto

- 2 large handfuls of radish leaves, stems removed
- 30 grams (1 oz) hard cheese
- 30 grams (1 oz) pine nuts
- 1 clove garlic
- a short ribbon of lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to get the consistency you like
- salt, pepper, ground chili pepper

Blitz, taste, adjust the seasoning, and pack into a jar. Use within a few days (it will keep longer if you pour a thin layer of oil on the surface) or freeze.

[mollypea]

I discovered the joy of eating radish seed pods this year - got lots of nice round roots early in the summer but then a load bolted when it got hotter. Read somewhere that you could eat the pods and they are really tasty - mild radishy flavour. Had so many that I tried pickling a jar-full, which are quite nice but not as good as fresh. Found the leaves a bit hairy and not very pleasant in a salad but OK cooked.

There are a number of varieties you can grow that have been bred to produce more seed pods... There's a German variety that someone on my allotment is growing, the name of which temporarily escapes me.... I'll be back!

Just wondering if you remembered what these were? :)

I've ordered some winter radish seeds from Real Seeds - the top two on this page http://www.realseeds.co.uk/radish.html which look amazing!

[Hernaic Tom]

I'll See if I can find out for you from the lady at the allotment!!

[MKG]

You don't need to wait, though, mollypea - any radish will produce seed pods. Tom's talking about a strain bred specifically for the pods. You can do it without that - but be prepared for a very large and scruffy plant.

Mike

[mollypea]

You don't need to wait, though, mollypea - any radish will produce seed pods. Tom's talking about a strain bred specifically for the pods. You can do it without that - but be prepared for a very large and scruffy plant.

Mike

Ah yes I'm discovering this - there's a radish monster trying to take over my lawn!

[grahamhobbs]

I've eaten a handful of pods at a time, when they are young and fresh, and they are ok, but what do the Germans do with them that they need to breed special varieties. I can't imagine what you could do with the hundreds of pods that one plant will produce. Any really tastey recipes for preserving them ?