Radish pods are a very under rated vegetable, and I didn’t know about them until about 3 years ago. However, they are so versatile, and at this time of year I let a few rows of radish go to flower on purpose to produce radish pods. They provide us with natural folic acid, potassium, vitamin C, magnesium, and so many other B vitamins.
At first I used to just munch them as a snack in the garden whilst working, as I do peas. They would also be thrown into a stir fry. They have a slight peppery taste. Now I preserve some, and add them to different meals. You can see them sitting on the top of the pile of veg for my stir fry. The greenery is radish leaves from some freshly picked radishes.
Radish pod pickle.
The pods are packed into a clean jar. A warm brine is made by heating equal amounts of white vinegar and water, and 1 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp salt per 500 ml of liquid. I add things like peppercorns, mustard seeds, or dill, or chilli, as well. They are ready in 48 hours and keep for 6 to 8 weeks in the fridge.
Roast them.
I have roasted them in olive oil with other veg, adding them about 15 minutes from the end cook time. They just start to blister and still have some crunch. They can frazzle away to nothing as so I usually place them under other veg.
Tempura
Dip the whole pods in a light tempura batter. Fry in hot oil until crisp. We have used these as a starter when having friends round to dinner.
Sauted in wild garlic butter with a squeeze of lemon.
We serve radish pod pesto with pasta for a light lunch. We put in a handful of pods, basil, toasted walnuts, garlic, olive oil, parmesan and lemon juice. The pesto has a peppery kick.
Ferment them with 2- 3% salt brine. They are done in the same way as green beans.
Veg curry. I just throw them in with other veg when making a veg curry.
Throw in a salad.
Use as crudities with dips or hummus.
Slice and use as an ingredient in Coleslaw.
I went to a BBQ at a community garden once and they dipped them in garlic butter and put them on the BBQ as a whole plant until they started to blister. They then sprinkled them in salt.
You can freeze the pods as well, but they are only good for cooking with when they defrost. Just blanch them for a minute in hot water before freezing.
You can buy podding varieties of radish but I just use ordinary radish seeds. The podding kind are supposed to be less fibrous, but I haven’t tried them. Do you grow and use radish pods?
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