A healthy guide to cooking with radishes

A bunch of round red radishes or tapered white radishes can go a long way towards enlivening a salad or a plate of appetizers. Radishes add a pleasant crunch as well as a hint of heat without the burn. Here's everything you need to know about adding the delicious vegetable to your diet.

Packed into 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) cup of radishes:

• About six calories.
• 14 percent of the daily requirement for vitamin C.
• Cancer-fighting phytochemicals known as flavonoids.

• Season: Radishes are available throughout the year but are most abundant in early spring.
• Varieties: Although red radishes are the best known, in most vegetable markets, you can now find long, tapered white radishes, which are milder than red ones, and daikons, which are large white carrot-shaped radishes, native to Asia, that have a sharper flavour than red radishes. Black radishes, popular in Polish and Russian cooking, are shaped like turnips but have dull black or brown skins and pungent white flesh. Horseradish is a cousin that is long and tapered with a brown skin. It is usually sold prepared as a sauce, but can be bought fresh and grated.
• What to look for: Choose firm red radishes with taut, brightly coloured skin and fresh-looking leaves. White radishes, daikons and horseradish should be firm, unblemished and smooth. Black radishes should be heavy for their size and free of cracks.

• Storing: Remove and discard any leaves before storing. Wrap red and white radishes, daikons and horseradish in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for a week. Store black radishes in perforated plastic bags in the refrigerator for up to a month.
• Preparation: Scrub radishes and trim ends. Peel daikons, horseradish and thick-skinned black radishes. If radishes have started to wither, it is possible to revive them by soaking them in iced water for an hour before serving.
• Basic cooking: Though red radishes are most often eaten raw in salads, they can also be steamed or sautéed until tender and served as a side dish. The flavour of all radishes mellows with cooking. Steam whole, trimmed red or white radishes for about 10 minutes. Sauté sliced radishes for four minutes. The simplest seasoning is a sprinkling of salt and a bit of butter.

• If you like a little spiciness but can't take the heat of chili peppers, try garnishing dips, salads, stir-fries and other dishes with slivered or grated radishes.
• Simmer daikon slices in stock and then glaze with orange juice, just as you do carrots.
• For an easy side salad, combine any of the following pairings with a well-seasoned vinaigrette dressing: cucumber slices and radishes, peas (shelled or snow peas) and radishes, orange segments and radishes
• Create matchstick radishes: with a paring knife, cut radishes into coins about three millimetres (1/8 inch) thick.

Keep this guide in mind and get the most out of radishes by adding them to your healthy diet.

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