Old Mother Frugal is fascinated with how women during the
Great Depression fed their families. In some cases, as with her own Old Frugal
Grandma, fed other families as well as her own.
Old Frugal Grandma fed her family of four and other
families in her apartment building. It was a walk-up in New York City and
legend has it that she had her son as the runner up and down the stairs
delivering food.
Her son is now 91 years old. If prodded, he will tell
stories of his youth during the Great Depression.
From various readings, dandelion salads using dandelion
leaves were common during those days. While staring at a bunch of radish on the
kitchen counter that little bit of information posed the question in Old Mother
Frugal’s mind…why are radish leaves tossed as trash?
Dandelion greens are edible. Some greens gathered from
foraging are edible. Beet greens are edible. Why are radish greens being tossed
as trash?
A little bit of research and recipes pop up en masse for
radish leaves or radish greens. The most popular of which appeared to be a sauté
of olive oil and garlic, then adding greens.
With a sale on radish bunches, the radish experiment took
off. Each bunch had 10 or 11 radishes to it with a bounty of leaves. This week,
three bunches for $1.00. Not a heavy investment for a culinary experiment.
The leaves filled an 8-cup bowl. But as with any greens
that cook, they shrink in size. In this case, 8 cups yielded a half-cup of
cooked greens.
The culinary challenge began!
First experiment was adding the cooked radish leaves to
an English Muffin breakfast sandwich with an egg and a slice of Baked Forest
Ham deli meat. With such success, more radish bunches were purchased.
The next experiment was adding the leaves to soup. Old
Mother Frugal found a bag of homemade gnocchi in the freezer. A meatless soup
of cannellini beans, gnocchi and radish greens made for a delicious and
eye-appealing entrée.
The last experiment was adding the leaves to a pasta
recipe with cooked salmon, capers and olives in a marinara sauce.
So give that radish leaf a second thought before tossing into
the trash. What you discard are valuable high concentrations of vitamin B6, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, calcium,
and vitamin A. There are also antioxidants, protein and dietary fiber in radish greens as well as potassium and folic acid!
Apparently, Grandma knew
best!
Sound the Bugle! Today’s tip: While the focus of today’s blog is the greens
of the radish, the radish itself should not be overlooked as a source of
wonderful nutrients. A light summer
salad of sliced radish coins with salt or with a vinaigrette dressing is a
refreshing accompaniment to a meal and economical as well!
