148. Chives and Radishes and Other Random Stuff

1.  I have lots of chives in my garden, but I no longer eat things like cream cheese and chives on bagels or sour cream and chives on baked potatoes.  I sometimes mourn those things, but I'm much, much better off without them.  But, assuming a high-protein/low-carb lifestyle (I mostly save my carbs for chocolate, and I'm sorry, but I won't put chives on my chocolate.) what do you do with chives without cream cheese and sour cream and pasta and bread?   Chives in scrambled eggs, I guess. Other than that? 

2.  I answered my own question with a few well-placed Google queries and my own imagination:  For example:  Goat's cheese, asparagus & chive crustless quiche.  Caramelized shallot, mushroom and chive quiche.  Chive flower omelets.  How about jumbo shrimp and salmon chunks baked in garlic and chive butter? I'm thinking one of these nights soon I might add chives to goat's cheese, flatten a chicken breast, then spread the cheese-and-chive mixture inside the breast, roll it up, and bake it. 

5. I like radishes, and I grow them every year.  They have always struggled in my clay soil, but they are positively thriving in the raised beds.  Yay!  But I have just discovered that I have always underestimated the poor little radish. I never thought of it as anything more than a peppery garnish, and figured it wasn't very high in nutritional value.  Definitely better than a cupcake, but as far as vegetables go, I thought it was pretty empty.  But then I read this, and I got totally turned on to focusing more on the radish and less on the little red garnish in my salad.  In addition, to focus on the leaves, which are doubly high in vitamin C and other good things. So there's another challenge in my kitchen.  How do I incorporate radish leaves into my food and not just waste the most nutritious part of the radish?  The leaves are quite hairy, which is not an attribute I appreciate, and therefore they are not so pleasant to eat on their own.  But I did it! 

6.  Here's what I did:  I chopped up four or five radishes and their leaves quite fine.  I stirred them into some soft goat's cheese (chevre).  I took the cheese-radish combo and I spread it on some thick-sliced deli roast beef and some pastrami, rolled up the meat slices with the radish-filled cheese inside, and ate three of the rolls for lunch.  They were great.  I preferred the pastrami one for flavor, but I try not to eat many processed meats.  The deli roast beef strikes me as a bit less processed than pastrami.  Still, quite nice.  If I were still a vegetarian and ate bread, I would try the cheese-radish mixture on whole-wheat, pumpernickel, or sourdough toast.  (I do eat certain kinds of bread on occasion, and I will try it that way, as well.)

6.1.  And I did something else:  I had homemade chicken-mushroom soup simmering on the stove.  Just before serving it, I put radish leaves in and let them cook slightly 'til they were bright green.  It was delicious!  They had a very mild spinach-y taste, with no hairiness evident from the leaves.

7.  Given the affinity of beef to radish (or horseradish) and goat's cheese, I think if you took all that stuff and blended it together in a blender (roast beef, radishes, radish leaves, and chevre), or just chopped it fine and stirred it together, you could dollop it on toast points or garlic melba toasts or the like, garnished with a couple of chive pieces, for a very elegant appetizer.  Or if you didn't want to have the blended look, you could layer it.  Or you could get thick-sliced pastrami, spread the spread on it, roll it up, and slice it into pretty rollups.  Cripes, now I'm wishing for the next dinner party or potluck I'm invited to, so I can try this. 

8.  So the next time you buy radishes at your farmer's market or get them in your CSA share, don't throw away the leaves!  They're filled with good nutrition.  Of course it goes without saying (or maybe it doesn't), the fresher and younger the radish, the nicer the leaves will be. 

3. I think I'm going to skip K in the ABC-Along.  I did keyboard last time around, and I pulled out the unabridged dictionary and scoured it for another K word that would work for me.  There just aren't any.  I'm taking a stand against the K. 

4. Or maybe I'll come up with something at the last minute.  I remember that's how I came up with keyboard last time, too.  I must have a mental block about Ks. Of course, then down the road comes the X and a few other nefarious letters.  I do remember now why I said I would never do the ABC-Along again. 

13.  Has anyone noticed the randomly misplaced numbers?

9.  Since we last "spoke," I have set up and planted two more raised beds.  This time I planted tomatoes and basil and radishes in one, and sweet and hot peppers and cucumbers in another.  My garden has never looked so pretty and orderly before.  I'm in love with the raised-bed system, and I'm unstoppable!

10.  I'm so much happier blogging since I've given myself permission to not knit and not blog about knitting, but blog about whatever is on my mind.  That's what it's all about.   

Comments

[Mel]

I was just thinking about the radish leaves as I was chopping some roots up for salad the other night. Personally, I think I'd probably boil them (with a bit of sugar) and then eat them with vinegar. That's what I was raised on down South and it works with turnip greens, which are also really hairy.

[Kristen]

How about kafkaesque? Trust the ex-literary scholar, it's a word.

I've tried radish greens before and found them vile. I'll have to try again since I picked up some icecicle radishes at the co-op today. (Goat cheese... mmmmm!) Regarding chives--I often snip 'em up and put them in salad dressings. I also like 'em in spring rolls. The blossoms are great in salads too, but make sure they are fairly "new."

[alice]

As I was thinning lettuce, arugula, and radishes earlier this week, I did wonder about the radish greens. It seems a shame to send them directly to the compost. (Well, when I buy bunched radishes in the supermarket, the greens are so gross that composting them directly isn't at all a problem.) So, I shall definitely add some radish greens to the next chicken soup I make.

As for chives, definitely in scrambled eggs. If I didn't have more scallions than I can shake a stick at, I'd be adding the chives to cooked vegetables as well, but lately I've been using scallion greens in that way.

[yoel]

Some asian suggestions for the carb-averse

Chives and tofu patties. Crumble up tofu, add chopped chives, some spices, an egg, and pan-fry into very flat patties (sort of like a heartier scallion pancake). Serve with soy sauce for dipping.

Radish greens: boil so they're not hairy anymore, and all crunch is gone. Drain, squeezing out all liquid. Toss with minced shallots, minced garlic, sesame seed oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar. Serve cold. This is better the next day.

I wish I had your green thumb!

[Debi P]

How about using KNIT for the letter K?

[elizabeth a airhart]

now may you have red wine aspic
clear gelatin when ready add bottle
of red wine- pour in to loaf pan
chill till set- then slice and serve
on the plate with your meat choice

comment number 16

[Angie]

Radish greens as micro-greens are excellent. Just harvest while there are only the two little round leaves above the ground. Nice and spicy. I'll have to try the hairy ones now that you have made them more appealing.

[Carole]

I thought the Hokey Pokey was what it's all about.

[Lynn]

That does it, I'm coming for dinner. What kind of wine shall I bring?

[Nora]

Radish sprouts are quite good, too. The only good "k" words I can think of actually start with "c." Bummer.

[ann]

Yum, radishes, I love them. Love them I say. oh am with Deb- Duh K is for Knitting or Kale since you are in the gardening mode. LOl.

[grace]

Kudos -- you know, on the no-K thing.

[margene]

I was thinking of taking a stand against K, too. Maybe we can get a group together to Non-K.

[Adelaide]

How about "kale" for "k"? Try throwing some chopped up chives into your green salad.

[CindyCindy]

Do you eat cottage cheese? I chop up chives and add them to cottage cheese. I also do this with fresh dill.

[Elizabeth]

K for Kale, my garden friend.
I cheated on H and I am still behind two letters so you'll get no flack from me.
This gardening bug has certainly got me. Last night I dreamed of the smallest but tastiest melons from a local organic restaurant (local to my dream!) and I said, still in the dream, "I thought I couldn't grow melons without a greenhouse? I'm going to try right now"
Do I blame you for veggie garden dreams? I swear no chocolate was eaten before bed.

[marianne]

heh... blogging about whatever... Hokey Pokey... Norma being happy about blogging... Norma being happy...

[Kayten]

How about kohlrabi? It was the bane of my childhood. German or not, I thought it foul. I'm thinking of trying it again, but I doubt it will be worth the effort.

[(formerly) no-blog-rachel]

I've gardened for decades and never knew that radish leaves were edible until this weekend, when my husband and brother-in-law told a story about my mother-in-law and how she liked the leaves more than the radish itself. And 2 days later, you blog about it! I'm definitely giving them a try; I've got a few almost-ready radishes in the garden. Thanks Norma! :)

[Katy]

K is for Kickass, which is what your garden will be this year.
Or for knitbuddies.
Or Katy. ;)

[jessica~]

"Goat's cheese, asparagus & chive crustless quiche. Caramelized shallot, mushroom and chive quiche. Chive flower omelets."

Your blog is making me drool on my keyboard. More than usual.

[Roxie]

Kitchen, kitten, knitting, knuckles, knuckleheads, knots,kraptastique,Kankaredes, knockwurst.

Didn't pay any attenton to the numbers at all. You scamp!

Radish leaves - they're not just for compost any more.

[Marcia Cooke]

Can't help you with K, but I chop the chives for salad and use them anywhere I'd use onion, pretty much. Am layering my Mini Grow Bed as we speak!

[Gillian]

chives with yogourt or yogourt cheese (particularly to replace sour cream.) Keep the potatoes in the picture, but in small quantities, and use sweet potatoes as well.
K for Vit K, never made into a supplement.

[Kristine]

Holy god I need to stop reading your blog two and a half hours before my lunch time.

Ooooo that sounds so gooooooooooood..........

[Elizabeth D]

How about (K)not Knitting for K?

[Bethany]

I've seen a lot of people use nettles for a spinach substitute, so I wonder if you could use radish leaves as one as well. I had some "nettle-kopita" this year that was fantastic. Do you eat phyllo?

[Sue]

Hmm. Knit, kitchener, kid mohair, kid (child), kale, kaleidoscope of color in the garden, kazoo, kelp, kettle, key, kidney bean, kin, kitchen, kiwi.....

[Cookie]

Knickers. Knitted or no, it's up to you.

Fried rice needs some chives. Yeah, that's all I've got. XO

[Doris]

You could always use knit or knitting...there's a nice K for you. My last name starts with K, so I could come up with lots!

[Katie B.]

K is for Kate, who was killed with an axe. I heart Edward Gorey.

My blog started out ostensibly as a dress diary, to document my process making historical costumes. Have you seen many posts about that? I didn't think so. I think of blogging as a public journal, so I can write about whatever I darn well please. It so happens that a fair percentage of what pleases me is knitting-related, but I certainly don't keep it exclusive to that!

I was thinking radish leaves sauteed in butter and/or olive oil (I use a combination, usually) sounded potentially tasty. I'm not much on big chunks of leaves in soup, but chop 'em up and they'd prolly make a good addition to minestrone or another soup, veggie or not. Or add them to scrambled eggs with stuff!

[Charlotte]

knife, knitting needle, key, knot, knockwurst, ketttle, keeper (something you can't get rid of).

[Joy]

Sugar snap peas, scallions and quartered red radishes lightly sauted together - it was a combo from Everyday Food I just couldn't resist trying, and it was really tasty!

[S.Kate]

Gillian at 10:22am beat me to mentioning Vitamin K.

If it doesn't have to be a word, Vitamin K seems right up your, er, raised bed. :)

- Vitamin K -
"Vitamin K is found in cabbage, cauliflower, spinach and other green leafy vegetables, cereals, soybeans, and other vegetables. Vitamin K is also made by the bacteria that line the gastrointestinal tract."

[S.Kate]

And dude, there might even be some Vitamin K in those radish leaves (other green leafy vegetables), so you didn't exactly skip it. ;-D

[sandy]

You know? I have never really HAD a radish! No foolin'.

[Patti]

I toast sunflower seeds in a frying pan, with a little toasted sesame oil, celery salt, and minced CHIVES. You have to stand there and stir them for about 15 minutes, but you can read or something while you do it. Great on salads. :)

[cr]

Chives can go anywhere you'd normally use scallions, shallots or onions--or just anywhere you'd like mild onion flavor. Use 'em in soups, stews, mixed w/ other greens in salads, sauteed w/ other vegetables...you name it. Chives freeze well chopped up and put in bags; you can just break off a chunk to throw into whatever you're cooking. If you are like my kids, chives make a delicious snack all on their own straight from the garden. :)

Thanks for the lasagna garden tutorial. I'll definitely be trying that!

[claudia]

Radish leaves. Who knew?

[Bobbie]

I don't have any recipes for hairy leaves, but a favorite 'pickle' recipe for radishes.
Smash radishes lightly with a heavy coffee mug or mallet. Make a dressing of soy or tamari sauce, big splash of rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Crunch on.

[Deb]

Only a few days late with the blog reading, but anyway...

Radishes, sliced, make great dippers. Nice and peppery, just what a creamy dip needs (my faovorite is Rueben dip with sliced radishes). And chives make just about anything savory better. Chicken salad isn't chicken salad without them! If you do ever have the yen for a baked potato, sprinkle on the chives before you fluff the potato. They get warmed up and release their great aroma and flavor.
That reminds me, I should go plant some more -- our pooch laid on them and did them in.