
I’m a huge fan of unusual vegetables. When I discovered watermelon radishes at the Santa Monica farmers’ market a few years ago, I was blown away. From the outside they didn’t look like much – pale green, about the size of a tennis ball – but inside, oh! that gorgeous magenta! There’s only one grower who has them regularly, but I’ve been known to make a special trip just for these beautiful babies.
I’m pretty sure you can figure out from the photo above why they’re called watermelon radishes. They’re called shinrimei in Chinese. I love the crunch and the grassy flavor, which varies from mild to slightly peppery. We eat them raw. I slice them into thin half-moons and serve them instead of chips with dip. Or I’ll cut them into batons and add them to a crudite platter. I hear they’re sometimes grown smaller, closer to the size of normal radishes, but I’ve only seen the huge ones.
| Kyocera julienne slicer |
Recently I acquired a Kyocera hand-held shredding gadget
(see photo, right). I broke it in with a couple of gorgeous watermelon radishes. Then, as is my habit with radishes of all kinds, I tossed the shreds with lemon, olive oil and a pinch of salt, just like my everyday radish salad. Interestingly, that very simple radish salad recipe has consistently been one of my all-time most popular posts. Go figure. Maybe my radish evangelism is working!
Anyway, the watermelon radish salad: delicious. And gorgeous, too.
Watermelon radish salad
- 2 large watermelon radishes
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- sea salt
Peel the very outer layer off the radishes – not too much, because you still want the outer layer to look green. Grate or shred the watermelon radishes using the Kyocera julienne slicer mentioned above, or the largest holes of a box grater, or your food processor. In a large bowl, toss the watermelon radish shreds with the lemon juice and olive oil, and add a pinch of salt. Taste and add more salt if you like. Serve chilled.



