If you’ve visited your local farmers market recently, you’ve seen them everywhere — those big, brightly purplish-pink colored bunches of radishes with their long green stems. In Georgia, they’re in season through June, so if you’ve never known quite what to do with them, now is a fantastic time to learn and discover. 

Eaten raw, radishes pack a crisp, cool and peppery punch that can be a great addition to Mexican dishes, such as tacos. They’re perfect for adding color to salads and sautéed green vegetable dishes, like sugar snap peas or green beans. For a beautiful bite, slice them thinly and show them off on open-faced tea sandwiches. Radishes can be eaten raw, roasted or even grilled. Today, I’ll share one of my favorite ways to prepare them: roasted with plenty of coarse salt and topped off with a little brown butter. I even use the green tops as garnish. Earthy and mild, this side dish would be excellent served alongside grilled chicken or roasted pork tenderloin. The process of roasting mellows out the peppery punch, resulting in a tender and golden-brown treat. 

To store radishes, chop off the leafy green tops, leaving a little above the root. Keep the roots unwashed until you’re ready to use them and store in a sealed plastic bag. They’ll last one to two weeks.

Roasted Radishes with Brown Butter

Yield: Makes 2 side dish servings  

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch medium radishes (about 10)

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

• Coarse kosher salt

• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F. Drizzle a baking sheet with olive oil. Trim green radish tops, leaving about ½ inch of stem; reserve trimmed tops and rinse well. Finely chop radish tops and set aside. Cut radishes lengthwise in half and place them on the baking sheet, white side down. Add olive oil, salt and pepper, and using clean hands, toss thoroughly to coat. Roast until radishes are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes. Season to taste with more salt. 

Melt butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until butter browns, swirling skillet frequently to keep butter solids from burning, about 3 minutes. Transfer roasted radishes to a plate and drizzle with brown butter. Sprinkle with chopped radish tops and devour!