Vegetables and How I Cook Them: Radishes

When I think of radishes I think, almost always, of farmers’ markets in the spring.

People coming out either begrudgingly because it is pissing rain or gleefully because at least it is not snowing. Farmers standing in heavy sweaters and with green thermoses of coffee at the ready, offering kind smiles when customers mention the chill. They have been up since before dawn and working outside for weeks.

Tables and tables piled with greens—spinach, baby kale, salad leaves, maybe some bok choys, maybe some arugula. Next to those greens stands a stack of radishes blazing red. The color is always jarring, unnaturally bright, piercing the mist of such mornings. These little orbs demanding to be noticed. Demanding to be seen even when they are passed over for salad or asparagus.