Monday, July 12, 2010

The Local Cook Swap: Radishes

I’m Wendy, the Local Cook. Jules and I will be swapping blog posts a few times a month. See, we are in this weight loss journey thing together. I’m a long time follower of hers, and find her writing so inspirational.

She asked me to help her in her quest to learn how to cook. Ironically enough, even though my blog is The Local Cook, I haven’t been cooking that long. Well, cooking something that doesn’t start out with “a can of.”

Last August I decided that I needed to do something about my weight, and I knew I wanted to do it by cooking real food. I also wanted to improve my cooking ability. So I decided to cook all the recipes from Simply in Season. I love this cookbook because it focuses on fresh, local food. Then I read Julie & Julia and decided to start a blog. Long story short, I’ve discovered over the past year that once you get the basics down, you can be so creative with vegetables! Almost all diet plans agree that we need more vegetables. Unfortunately most Americans translate that into iceberg lettuce or boiled green beans. Ick.

Jules asked me to talk about radishes in this post. They are easy to grow and last forever in the refrigerator. Problem is it’s hard to know what to do with them other than slice them for a salad. Today I decided to make them into a sandwich that’s perfect for a quick lunch on a hot day.

What you’ll need:

• Sandwich bread (I like Ezekiel sprouted grain, but any whole grain will work)
• Cheese (lowfat or not, depends on your preference)
• Radishes
• Salt
• Lettuce

Slice the radishes thin, and place on the bread. Sprinkle with salt (this cuts down on the heat, believe it or not). Garnish with cheese and lettuce. So good!

Have more radishes? Consider making a radish salad Also, even though they are normally eaten raw, don’t be afraid to throw them into soups or stir fry! You can throw just about any vegetable imaginable into stir fry or soup and it will taste just fine.

One more radish tip: Don’t throw the tops away! You can use those, too, in soups and stir fry. You’ll just want to separate the radish from the top when you get them home since the radish will keep a few weeks in the refrigerator whereas the top will get all wilty within a couple of days.

For more vegetable recipes,  you can visit me  at http://www.thelocalcook.com/ (And that is where the Big Girl Bombshell is today)