I love cooked turnips if they’re pungent. Sweet turnips – not so much. But I haven’t found a reliable way to tell if a turnip will be pungent or sweet when I buy it.

I’ve long thought that a good zesty turnip, eaten raw, was similar in taste to a radish. Turns out there’s a good reason for that. From the web:

“Both turnips and radishes belong to the brassicaceae family, which includes a variety of cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.”

So yesterday I bought a bunch of red radishes instead of turnips, and cooked them instead of eating them raw. I cooked the greens too. They were great! Very zesty, and the greens contributed to the zest.

Interestingly, cooking transformed the red radishes to a soft orange color. I seasoned them with black pepper and curry powder.

I like radishes. Never had a cooked radish. I wash them and eat them raw.

When I was very young, my Polish-Russian grandmother would buy large, mild, black radishes and grate them coarsley, sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Delicious! I loved that. I have been looking, for quite a few years, and have never found anyplace that sells these black radishes.

^^^^^^
Same for icicle radishes. It’s been years since I’ve seen one offered in the store.

Another radish lover here. Never thought about cooking them. When the locals set out their produce stands and I can get some truly fresh, I'll have to try that.

Where I grew up in Michigan, the soil was pretty heavy, lot of clay. We grew radishes in the garden that had to be pulled as soon as they were of edible size or they'd burn the taste buds right off your tongue.

One year when I was just a tyke, 7 or 8 years old at a guess, my next older brother grew a short row of horseradish. All I heard was "radish" and when he offered me a bite of one right out of the garden, I was all over it.

I wasn't long spitting it out...

If you want pungent and flavorful Turnips it is very easy. Drop them in some sauerkraut and add in some pork. Then slow cook them. Best Turnips you will ever have.

Adding radishes to a crockpot roast was a happy accident. I was out of onion one time but had some radishes. Turned out amazing and now a staple in roasts.

Cooked radishes are really good, and have a very low glycemic index, so good for folks with diabetes. You can even slice them and bake of fry them like french fries. I usually just eat them raw, though, because it's less work.

I hated them growing up but now love radishes. Never had them cooked before, might have to try,thanks.

I eat radishes almost daily. I've tried them cooked before, but didn't feel they were improved and thus not worth the effort. They seemed to lose that radishey flavor. JMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by vinnybass:
<snip>
They seemed to lose that radishey flavor. JMHO.

Cooked radishes taste significantly different than raw radishes, but I like them both ways.

The radish greens were good cooked, but I’ve never eaten the greens raw. Maybe good in a salad – I ought to try that.