Radishes add pungent flavor to salads and salsa

I love the way the flavor of radishes changes with the weather. You never know how much of that peppery bite to expect.

They tend to be milder in spring and late summer. “Hot weather turns their delightful sweet-and-zingy pungency – sort of like well behaved horseradish – unpleasantly intense,” says Jeff Cox, author of “The Organic Cook’s Bible.” (Of course, that’s the flavor others love.)

They’re delicious out of hand or sliced for salads.

Here’s one idea from “Melissa’s Great Book of Produce” (Wiley, 2006) for a cold steak salad with radishes: In a medium bowl, whisk 1/2 cup olive oil or vegetable oil into 1/4 cup red wine vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste, plus 1 cup sliced radishes, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley and 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese; toss. Marinate at room temperature 30 minutes. Place handfuls of mixed baby greens on 4 plates. Top with thin slices of cold, cooked steak (pork or chicken). Toss the radish mixture and spoon over salads. Garnish with olives if desired.

Radishes can also add a different kind of pungency to the pepper heat of a typical salsa, Cox says. “It also adds a nice crunch and color when the red radishes are young and crisp.”

“Use as a topping for chicken, pork or fish tacos; as an addition to burritos or eat with chips.”

Radish Salsa

From the “Organic Cook’s Bible” by Jeff Cox (Wiley, 2006)

1/2 cup finely diced small red radishes

1/2 cup seeded and diced ripe plum tomato (1 large tomato)

1/4 cup finely chopped scallions (white parts only)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 teaspoon minced jalapeno or Serrano pepper

2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Gently stir all ingredients together in serving bowl.

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups

Approximate nutrition per serving (based on 6): 52 calories, 4.7 grams fat (.6 grams saturated, 76 percent fat calories), less than 1 gram protein, 2.87 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, .5 grams dietary fiber, 53 milligrams sodium.