Roasted Radishes with Balsamic Vinegar

Roasted radishes are where it’s at, folks. Nothing new. Nothing difficult. Just radishes with some oil and vinegar, a smidge of salt and fresh pepper.

I noticed when spring rolled around-yeah, it finally arrived after some snow at the beginning of May here in Minnesota and a few other parts of the U.S. The last winter storm wiped out some tree branches around here and negated the yard cleaning we performed the weekend before. It’s still a mess we get to tackle this weekend.

But back to the radishes. I had some leftover from a pickled veg recipe that we used to top fish tacos and everything else (we love pickled things) that week. I had some watermelon and your standard variety radishes and thought the White on Rice Couple’s recipe sounded like the way to take these babies to Special Town. Population: roasted, somewhat sweet, less crisp radishes. Different from their normally crisp, peppery ways.

The watermelon variety did not roast long enough. Now that I see the picture, I realize they weren’t uniform in size which probably didn’t help and how did I miss that? Maybe it’s the regular chaos that life hands us we’re trying to cope with (the car needs repaired, the water softener stopped working, the dog needs spayed, we aren’t going to be able to do the house renovations we planned and some we need to do in order to see the return we expected, and we’re trying to figure out how we could move to Seattle earlier, etc.) and the fact that it was late and they had already taken much longer to roast than expected and I served them with herb risotto and you have to time those things just right to consume risotto as it’s meant to be consumed. Maybe it was that.

They were worth the wait and the less creamy risotto was still delicious. Which is seriously the least of our worries and fairly ridiculous after I read through this in the edit. 

And happy Mother’s Day Sunday to all your terrific, hardworking, unconditional loving moms.

Roasted Radishes with Balsamic Vinegar
Serves 2 to 4 as a side dish

10 radishes (the original called to keep the tops and roast them too but mine came without), washed, roots and stem removed (keep your greens if you have them)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp sea or kosher salt
black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F. Make sure your radishes are washed, dried and I’d cut them in half. In a bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Whisk then toss in the radishes (and greens if you have them). Be sure all is evenly coated. Not required but it’s easier to place a sheet of foil on a roasting pan or baking sheet then spread the radishes (and greens) out. Roast for about 10 minutes or until the greens are crispy (again-if you have them). Remove the greens and continue roasting the radishes for about 5 more minutes or until tender. Mine took a bit longer. Serve and enjoy.