Vibrant Corn Salad with Jalape�o Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
6 ears of corn worth of kernels (cooked and cooled)
6 radishes, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 large red onion, diced
1 1/2 large avocados, cubed

for the vinaigrette:
5 tablespoons avocado oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
juice of 1 lime
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and halved
salt
freshly ground black pepper


Toss all of the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. Shake the vinaigrette ingredients in a dressing mixing container or closed jar. Strain over the salad. Discard the jalapenos. Toss to evenly distribute the dressing. Serve at room temperature.

My thoughts:

I love salads like these. I am honestly not the biggest traditional salad person but on hot days, a cool dish is needed. I especially love the vinaigrette I came up with for this salad, the oils of the peppers get shaken into the dressing adding just enough heat. It is a great way to get a spicy fix without actually having to bite down on a pepper. The trick to the perfect corn salad is to have a mixture of tastes and textures. A mix of sweet (corn, tomato), crisp (radish), creamy (avocado), spicy (radish, jalapeno), juicy (tomato) and crunchy (cucumber) is my favorite. I served this as an entree but I think it would also be great as a side dish to grilled seafood or portobello burgers.

Radish Pesto Potato Salad

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb red skin potatoes, diced
1 bunch radishes, greens attached
1 shallot
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup toasted pinenuts
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions:
Halve and slice the radishes. Place the greens, nuts, shallot, garlic, oil, cheese, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. Pulse until smooth. Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork-tender. Drain the potatoes. Toss the radishes and potatoes together. Drizzle with pesto, toss to evenly distribute.

My thoughts:

Radish leaves are perfectly edible. They have the peppery bite that you would expect but they are mild enough to use in a salad. Since radishes are in season right now, it is easy to find radishes with their leaves still attached. Look for leaves that are still crisp with no bruising. Anyway, they are so tasty, I felt bad about tossing them out but I didn't have any other salad ingredients (besides whole radishes, obviously) so I decided to make a pesto. Since we had just had pasta, I tossed with some potatoes instead. The result? A creamy potato salad with no mayo but lots of fresh flavor.

Fresh Radish Relish

Ingredients:
6 small red radishes or 3 large red radishes, small dice
1 stalk celery, small dice
1 shallot, minced
1 cubanelle pepper, minced

dressing:
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seed
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon sugar


Directions:
Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Place the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Drizzle with dressing and toss to evenly distribute. Allow to sit 20 minutes before serving.

My thoughts:

I am generally a sauerkraut and/or mustard girl when it comes to hot dogs but for some reason the idea of a radish relish (which I had never even heard of before) stuck in my head. As it turns out, it was really good. I had it on a bison hot dog and enjoyed the pickley, spicy, zippy bit of crunch it provided.

I also think this relish would be great on grilled fish or even chicken. It is just so fresh tasting and crisp, it really brightens up whatever it is put on.

Viva la Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
12 oz rainbow rotini, cooked
12 oz marinated artichoke hearts, drained and marinade reserved
8 oz mozzarella, diced
1/2 English cucumber, diced
1/2 large red onion, diced
6 radishes, sliced thinly
1 stalk celery, diced
2 cups halved campari tomatoes
1/3 cup diced green onion (green parts only)
1/3 cup sliced spiced olive-cured green olives


dressing:
1/4 cup marinade from the artichoke hearts
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced basil
1/2 tablespoon minced Italian parsley
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt
pepper

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Place the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss to evenly distribute. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss again. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

My thoughts:

I haven't made too much in the way of pasta salads before but I have been trying to will actual summer weather into existence and thought that a cold salad might do the trick. Not quite sure if it worked but it has been rather sunny the last few days if very humid.

The salad itself was very tasty; comprised mostly of items I purchased at our local Italian market. The olives and artichokes are quite robustly flavored and the mozzarella adds a creamy note. The dressing couldn't be easier and using the marinade from the artichokes really ties the flavors together.

Spring Vegetable Potato Salad

Ingredients:
2 lb Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, cubed and cooked
4 radishes, cubed
1 carrot, cubed
1 stalk celery, cubed
1/4 red onion, chopped

for the dressing:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons mustard
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried chervil
1 teaspoon freeze dried chives
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon horseradish
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour over the vegetables, carefully stir to combine. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

My thoughts:

This potato salad makes the most of what spring has to offer; new fresh radishes, carrots and celery and tiny potatoes. I hate making side dishes so this potato salad is perfect for me, it packs in a huge amount of vegetables with minimal effort. Not to mention that the dressing is quite zippy thanks to the horseradish and mustard making it no ordinary potato salad. A potato salad for potato salad haters. Terribly tasty, incredibly easy.

Top-Drawer Chicken Salad

1 1/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 red radishes, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 carrot, finely diced
2 tablespoons capers


for the marinade:
1/4 cup tarragon vinegar
2 tablespoon olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons diced red onion
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
salt
pepper

for the dressing
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
juice of 1/2 lemon
white pepper


Directions:
Place the chicken and marinade in a nonreactive container. Marinate for at least 1/2 hour. Then grill or saute the chicken until cooked through. Cube and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients and toss to evenly distribute all of the ingredients. Serve immediately or for better flavor, refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.



Yield: 4-6 servings

My thoughts:

This is my current favorite version of chicken salad; it was so good, I made it a second time in less than a week. The capers give it a salty, pickle-y kick, the radish and red onion lend some spicy crunch and the dressing is creamy but not cloying or too mayonnaise-y. Chicken salad nirvana.


If you are feeling decadent, this chicken salad is particularly good on sourdough bread topped with a couple slices of bacon and avocado.

Radish Kimchi

Ingredients:
1 bunch young radish*
1 bunch green onions, green part cut into 1 inch pieces
1 inch knob ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic, grated
5 tablespoons anchovy sauce and/or 1-2 tablespoons fermented shrimp paste**
4 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons Korean red pepper powder
1 tablespoon sugar


Directions:
Cube or halve the radish. Prepared radish kimchi is normally sold with the radish halved but I like to cube it so it is easier to eat. Fill a nonreactive bowl with water. Add the radish and sea salt. Allow to soak for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the ginger, garlic, pepper flakes, sugar, sauce and green onions. Drain the radish and rinse slightly. Place in a large nonreactive jar and add the red pepper powder. Stir until well coated. Add the sauce. Stir to coat. Cover tightly and allow sit unrefrigerated for about 2 full days. Place in refrigerator.

* Available at most Asian groceries, they are white and about 4 inches long and 2 inches in diameter.
**Fermented shrimp paste is preferred, but I find it is more difficult to find than anchovy sauce. A combination of the two is a tasty but pungent option.

My thoughts:

Having not grown up making (or eating) kimchi, I generally stick to buying jars of it at the store. Every time I bought it I looked at the ingredient lists and saw how short it was. How hard could it be to make a small batch of kimchi at home? As it turned out, not too hard. I chose to make a radish-based kimchi, because it is my favorite and it seemed easier than the layers and layer of cabbage variety. A quick trip to my local Korean superstore supplied me with everything I needed and with in a half hour of getting started, I was on my way to fermentation. I just purchased the same ingredients listed on the label of my favorite store bought kimchi and played around with the measurements and proportions until it was perfect. Now I am not claiming this is a 100% authentic recipe nor am I a kimchi expert, but it came out exactly as I hoped, a homemade version of the prepared kimchi I love.


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