Ravishing Radish Sandwich With Poppy Seed Dressing

Easter egg radishes - crunchy, peppery and downright colourful. Who could resist that? I seldom cook these beauties. They end being mushy and smell awful. The only time I would do that is while making sambar. Otherwise, they are good to go with just a squirt of lemon juice and salt. The radish greens, with a mild radish-y flavour, taste equally good too. If you haven’t cooked the greens, you should definitely give a try. In addition to being nutritious and tasty, its economical. I have paid for those organic greens along with the roots. And I am going to use every bit of it.

A good place to start, is to cook them with lentils. Also, Kalyn’s crustless quiche is a very good recipe for radish and beet greens. Otherwise, you can enjoy them in sandwiches like I did. Garlicky radish greens are piled along with sautéed sweet peppers and onions. Complementing the vegetables is the creamy poppy seed spread. Those tiny little seeds add an interesting crunch making this a regular in my kitchen. On the whole, I think this sandwich will also be nice as a warm salad, served with toasts on the side.

Poppy Seed Spread

Tofutti or cream cheese or mayonnaise or thick yogurt – ½ cup
* I used a combination of tofutti and yogurt
Poppy seeds – ½ tbsp
Lemon zest – 1 tsp
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
Sugar – ½ tsp
Salt
Pepper
Red pepper flakes

Whisk all of the above in a bowl into a smooth mixture.

Ingredients For the Sandwich

Bunch radish – 5 or 6, sliced into thin rounds
Bell peppers of any colour – 2, sliced
Red onion – 1 cup, sliced thin
Radish greens – 2 cups, chopped
Garlic – 2 cloves, chopped fine
Red pepper flakes – a pinch
Salt
Pepper
Oil

Sliced bread – as needed

Method

In a skillet, sauté bell peppers and onions separately with salt and pepper. Transfer to a plate. In the same skillet, stir fry radish greens with garlic and red pepper flakes, until wilted but green. Its always a good practice to wait till the last minute, while adding salt to any greens. They cook down so much, and may end up too salty. So, just before removing the radish greens from the skillet, add a pinch of salt, toss and transfer to the plate with peppers.

Toast bread, apply spread on both the slices, pile sautéed greens, peppers, onion and sliced radish, cover with the other slice, slightly press, cut and serve.