Vegetables and sauces
In my constant quest for new (to me) produce, I stumbled upon this beauty at Bi-rite.
It’s a watermelon radish, and I would never have noticed it if one weren’t sliced in half and displayed at the store. I generally don’t like the sharp flavor of radishes, but these ones were too pretty to pass up. They are surprisingly mild, with only a hint of that radish-y flavor, and rather sweet. It was fantastic on my salad (arugula, tomatoes, cucumber), though I wished that I had one of those fancy ceramic slicers
I was at Bi-Rite two days ago and they were still available in case anyone lives locally and wants to try them.
The Napa Valley Mole Sauce is delicious. It’s bright and peppery, with nice heat and a good balance of salty and sweet flavors. Add this sauce to some veggies with handful of cocoa nibs, and you’ve made a quick, healthy and tasty meal.
With such a pleasant first experience, I had to try another one of their sauces. The Mango & Spices was an utter disaster. It was incredibly tart, didn’t have any trace of mango, and the Caribbean inspired spices were overpowering. I tried to save it with fresh pineapple and honey, but it didn’t help enough. Now I’m afraid to try any of their other products. I think I’ll just stick with the Mole.
Super-thin tastes do come true…Super-thin tastes do come…Super-thin tastes do…Super-thin tastes…Super-thin..Super!
February 14th, 2009 at 6:04 am
was that radish produced locally? because it would be a shame if it was imported you know, and flown here on an airplane or shipped in a container ship from somewhere in asia, you know, and burning fuel and releasing you know, carbon in the atmosphere.
February 14th, 2009 at 6:07 am
Them watermelon/radishes look tasty try suggesting them to Justine!
February 14th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
If you don’t like the sharp flavor of red radishes, you might try steaming them. Steamed radishes entirely lose the spicy flavor and become quite sweet. My girls didn’t like them raw, but gobbled them right up steamed.
I don’t know if I’d buy radishes for steaming, but Radishes are basiclaly the fastest and easiest garden vegetable. They can be fully ripe in less than a month from planting.
February 15th, 2009 at 1:16 am
@dakizzle I’m not sure. I’ll ask the market the next time I stop by. A large majority of their produce comes from California.
@Jim I agree. It does seem a waste to buy radishes to steam. I would love to have a little garden to grow things. I’m working on it
February 16th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
@dakizzle I checked with the grocery store, and they’re from central California
February 24th, 2009 at 5:07 am