Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Radish Chips

This past weekend I wanted to try another vegetable that I have not tried in a while. Mainly just to see if I would like it any better than when I was a kid. This week I bought radishes from the market. Radishes.... what to do with radishes. They are zippy and tangy and full of crunchy flavor. The only thing radishes are famous for are their making of horseradish and for topping fresh salads. And I am not the biggest fan of horseradish :) But, I do actually kinda like the kicking taste of the fresh radish. I also have been reading on how radishes can help clear up congestion in your throat and sinuses, which was relevant to me since I have been struggling a bit with the harvest allergy season. So radishes it is.

Maybe if I toast them up and make some chips that will taste crunchy and yummy on a fresh spinach salad... that is just what I did. How I made the chips:
Thinly slice up 1 pound of fresh radishes and toss/brush with 1/4 cup or so of olive oil.

Toss cracked pepper, sea salt and paprika and a dash of cayenne on top of the slices.

Spread out the lightly oiled and seasoned slices on a baking sheet and place in the oven.

Either broil and watch careful for 15 minutes, or bake in a 400 degree heat for about 30 minutes.

Then let cool and make sure they are cooked enough to your desired texture.

Then you will come up with some crispy spicy chips that are light as a feather and tasty for sure!

I ate quite a few of them by themselves just to enjoy the flavor, but then added some to a fresh spinach salad to enjoy even more. So, I should probably share the recipe to this simple salad as well huh. It was so delicious on a busy day when I had a lot going on, but it was simple enough that I didn't have to do much to enjoy.

Recipe for the Spinach Salad and Honey Mustard Dressing:

Lay a bed of fresh, washed and chopped spinach on a plate

Cut thin pieces of fresh apple and lay over the salad

Add some freshly baked radish chips

And then drizzle some homemade dressing on top...

Mix:

1/4 cup of grapeseed oil

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup of honey

either 2 TB of fresh mustard, or 1 TB of dried ground mustard seed

1 TB of minced onion

sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

Then whip it up in a food processor (double for a larger batch to feed more then 2 large salads)

Drizzle over the salad and enjoy a fresh salad without the thought of needing any cheese or bread. It will fill you up and has so much tang and flavor.

Enjoy!!!

2 comments:

  1. I've tried these radish chips - but they came out soggy... :-(

    Can you give me some tips? Did I use too much oil? Does it work better with the broiler? I could tell the taste would be great if I could just get the cooking and crispness right...

    Thanks!

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  2. Monique- I would try to broil them in your oven. Is it a convention oven? If it is you may have to turn up the heat. Also, if you want to dehydrate first in a traditional dehydrator, then toss with the little bit of oil and salt and pepper, and then bake/broil that might work better. Try using less oil as well. I myself broiled for 15 minutes on high heat broil. Then I turned the main broiler off and let sit in there for a few minutes to continue to dry out and cook. Another thing to be careful of is that you have to slice the radishes extra thin so that they can actually crisp up. If they are too think, they will have too much moisture and it will be harder to turn into a chip. Hope that helps a bit. Maybe try making again and see what you come up with. I really liked them on my summer salad. Thanks for writing...

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