I love red radishes. It’s such an under-utilized and under-appreciated vegetable. The taste is clean, crisp, and mild. Unlike daikon or other kinds of radishes, they don’t have a harsh mustardy flavor. Traditional carpaccio is thin slices of raw meat or fish, but I made a “carpaccio” out of the radishes by thinly slicing them with a mandoline.
In France, we would simply eat them with good quality butter, salt and pepper. Since the butter here in the US isn’t as flavorful as the yellow butter produced by the grass-fed cows in France, I decided to liven up the dish with a truffle-Meyer lemon vinaigrette to make it more appealing. I drizzled Italian flat-leaf parsley-flavored oil for color. I chose flat-leaf parsley because it has a much milder flavor than cilantro. I wanted the radishes to be the focus of the dish and not be overpowered by other ingredients.
1. Info for Carpaccio de Radis (Radish Salad with Herb-Infused Olive Oil)
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Servings: 8
- Calories: 70 kcal
2. Ingredients for Carpaccio de Radis (Radish Salad with Herb-Infused Olive Oil)
- 16 red radishes
- 2/3 teaspoon salt (preferably fleur de sel)
- 1/8 teaspoon white peppercorns, freshly ground
- 1/4 cup canola oil (or any neutral oil)
- 2 teaspoons truffle oil
- 1 Meyer lemon
- 1 tablespoon garlic chives, finely snipped
- 1 cup flat-leaf parsley, tightly packed
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 3 tablespoons crème fraîche
3. Directions:
- Using a zester, make about 8 small lemon zest shavings . Set aside.
- For the truffle / Meyer lemon vinaigrette: In a bowl, combine the juice of half the lemon, 1/3 teaspoon of fleur de sel, canola oil and truffle oil.
- Shave down the radishes using a mandoline slicer on the thinnest setting. Place them in the vinaigrette bowl. Toss well.
- Wash the flat-leaf parsley. Quickly blanch it for about 10 seconds in boiling salted water and transfer to an ice bath, to maintain a bright green color. Drain thoroughly of all water, and pat dry on paper towels. Coarsely chop the parsley.
- In a blender (or a mini-blender if you have one), mix the parsley, olive oil, garlic, 1/3 teaspoon of fleur de sel and 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper.
- Assemble 2 sliced radishes per person. Add a dollop of crème fraîche, drizzle a little more than a teaspoon of parsley-flavored oil. Sprinkle a pinch of garlic chives. Garnish with Meyer lemon zest. Finish with a pinch of fleur de sel.
- Serve immediately.
- Bon appétit!
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