Sautéed Radishes & Onions Recipe & Freezing Radishes

This is just one way to eat radishes, the Sautéed Radishes and Onions is a recipe aimed at those who grow their own and below that recipe is a recipe on freezing radishes for later meals. Freezing radishes is easy. Having them on hand for a quick side dish is nice.

I know. The skillet pictured, though said to be “safe”, is most likely a huge lie and leaches out poisons. sigh… I have not found a 6-quart and at least 3″ deep skillet with lid in double-clad steel as of yet. I cannot lift the cast iron ones that large very easily, nor do they come with lids for one-dish meals. It does the sautéed radishes and onions beautifully, at least.

I cook by the ton. Why do I do that with only the two of us? I have no clue. Luckily, we love leftovers. I find most meals taste even better the next day when we warm our servings in a buttered oven dish in the oven. The flavors meld and, yeah… No, I do not have a nuker. It makes everything like rubber, besides what that thing does to foods and your dishes.

I plant radishes 2 or 3 times during my short growing season. I expanded the use of them after getting burned-out on fresh or pickled radishes. I never knew they cooked up so nicely! They have become a favorite addition to various meals. The flavor is similar to a very mellow cauliflower. That is the closest thing I can think of to describe it. I will look into other ways to prepare them to expand their use in meals.

The radishes pictured are the heirloom Red Cherry Belles, and a pale purple variety called Viola. I cannot wait to see how the daikons I am growing do in various dishes. I never had daikons, our local store does not carry organic ones for me to try.

Later Note: The Daikons were bust, sadly. Maybe they were too close to the pole beans and were getting too much nitrogen? Some vegetables, though said to grow nicely together do not do well for me. That is part of gardening and growing your own vegetables. We can have similar or very different experiences.

Sautéed Radishes and Onions Recipe

*Option: Fry 1/2 lb. of bacon and save the bacon grease for sautéing the vegetables. Crumble the bacon and add to the radishes once sautéed to warm the bacon, yet keep it crispy.

Remove leaves from the radishes. Scrub the radishes with a vegetable brush. Trim off the tops and the root ends. Do not remove the skin. Slice radishes into medallions.

If you are preparing the radishes earlier in the day, put them into a glass container and cover with fresh, cold water and cover the dish. Refrigerate until ready to cook.

If you have radishes that the leaves have not gotten all prickly or tough, you can wash and chop those as well and add to the pan. The leaves are also nice in salads, soups or stews and stir-fry meals. Refrigerate those as well if not cooking them immediately.

If you will not be eating the radishes that day, after removing the tops and ends, put the whole radishes into a bowl filled with cold water, cover and keep in the refrigerator. This will keep the radishes crisp for 5 to 7 days, though you may have to change the water if your use treated city water instead of filtered or distilled water.

Drain radishes well if you prepared them earlier in the day. Melt a plop of butter and/or coconut oil, about 1 tbsp for the 2 to 3 serving size, about 2 tbsp for the larger. Stir in the radishes and chopped onions, (leaves if using), and set the flame on the stove to a notch or two below medium heat. Cover the pan.

Serve and enjoy! The addition of the bacon to sautéed radishes and onions takes the flavors to a whole new level. You can leave out the onions and it will be just as delicious. The flavor is similar to a very mellow cauliflower, radishes being from the same brassica family.

Freezing Radishes After Large Harvests

Radishes are versatile when it comes to the way you can store them. How you store them depends on the way you wish to eat them. Besides eating fresh, you can pickle them as another crisp or crispish version. The other option is freezing radishes if you plan to cook them as like the recipe above or add to soups, stews or stir-frys.

Clean and remove the tops and roots of the radishes. Do not skin. Slice into medallions. Blanch the radishes for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and submerge into ice water for about as long. Drain well. Put the medallions into a freezer container, freezer bag or sealer bag and process as usual. Freeze.

You can freeze the radish greens the same way for later eating. There was no time-length in the instructions I found. I would guess they should be good at least 6 months, longer if you use the food sealer option.