They look sort of interesting in the store.
Yet somehow, when I get them home, I am less sure.
Never mind to be or not to be: How to serve them at breakfast, *that* is the question. With eggs, do you think?
Or maybe with bacon? And a dab of Sriracha?
Or maybe savoury is all wrong. Maybe sweet is the way to go. Maple syrup?
Or as an accompaniment to dry cereal? A blueberry substitute?
Or with (English) muffins and (Scottish) marmalade?
You know, I don’t want to be unduly negative here and I know I haven’t exhausted the possibilities — breakfast radishes with steel-cut oatmeal? with cream cheese and lox? with muesli and yogurt? — but none of these pictured or imagined options looks promising to me.
I begin to suspect that whoever named this vegetable didn’t, you know, think it through.
But I also begin to wonder whether there’s more afoot here. I mean, what’s next? Mashed breakfast turnip, with cream and brown sugar? Roasted breakfast Brussels sprouts on a waffle (Belgian, natch) with whipped cream? Steamed breakfast squash with . . . um, strike that. Nothing goes with squash.
I could be overreacting, but keep a sharp eye on the produce aisle near you, folks. They’ll stop at nothing to get us to eat more vegetables.
Isabel – which grocery store do you shop at – so I can avoid it.
John – Well, these were seen at a Metro, but I suspect they’re available elsewhere. They have their own Wiki page.
Radishes at breakfast must be a European tradition. I have seen “French” attached to the seed packets of rather long and mild-tasting radishes. I knew a German man who ate a radish and a green onion every day for breakfast and who drank only filtered water, notions of healthy living he’d picked up in his youth and served him into his late 90s. I have a vegetable cookbook that recommends cooking them. I did so and found they lose their flavor to become pale and insipid. It seems pointless to destroy that roses-in-snow piquant addition to a relish tray. However, the touted benefits here (https://www.med-health.net/Health-Benefits-Of-Radishes.html) suggest my German friend was correct. I have a new respect for that little veggie!
Laurna – Interesting. European breakfast radishes – who knew? Certainly they run counter to our North American habits – what one dietician knew called “having dessert for breakfast.” It’s like most things, maybe: The more savoury you eat, the more you want. And the less sweet? Maybe.
My mom ate them with butter – and I like them roasted – but for breakfast?? I think not.
Alison – Roasted? My goodness. I’ve never even heard of that. I’ll consider it. For dinner. 🙂
Isabel, I notice you do not recommend one way of preparing/serving over another. Your presentation photos are lovely, however. I wonder if there are also “lunch” or “dinner” varieties of radishes. Never before crossed me mind.
Marilyn – Don’t encourage them! Next thing you know we *will* have meal-specific varieties of not just radishes but other vegetables, too. As for my preference, at a decent hour — say, noon — I prefer them raw, with salt.