radish green soup

Unfortunately, I composted four of the six radish squares that were all top, no radish, thinking that they weren't a palatable green. Turns out that there are quite a few recipes out there. The flavor and spiciness are compared to watercress.

I found several recipes online for radish green soup. I considered two in particular: radish top soup, and radish greens soup. Both use stock, potatoes, and some dairy. I ended up using a very meaty homemade chicken stock, potatoes, onions, half-and-half, butter, and lots of greens. I used a hand blender to smooth it out.

It turned out fine, though the dominant flavors were the stock and the potatoes. Whenever I make a creamy potato soup I'm always struck by how strongly it triggers a clam chowder association. If I were tasting blind I'm not sure I'd even know the radish greens were there. In the future I think I'd probably use them as stir fry or salad greens instead.

I discovered that some of the tops had small seed pods. Now those are tasty! They are like crisp edible pod peas but with a radish flavor. I wonder how close to maturity they can get before they lose their appeal. They made a nice garnish.