Radish Salad with Tomatoes and Cucumbers

Name: Radish Salad with Tomatoes and Cucumbers Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Young radishes 1 bunch; Ripe tomatoes 2-3; Young cucumbers 2; Green onion 1; Basil 2-3 sprigs; Cilantro 5-6 sprigs; Salt, sugar, oregano, olive oil, wine vinegar for the dressing

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15 mins

When making a radish salad, you usually add other fresh vegetables. The selection typically depends on the time of year. The season for fresh young radishes ends very quickly. Although radishes are on sale most of the year, they stop being very tasty, lose their juiciness and turn spongy. I, for one, don’t like them that way. So we make salads with them only in spring and at the very start of summer.

The beauty of such a salad is that if you have a vegetable garden, you can pick everything there and make an excellent vitamin-rich mix. It is also very colorful and healthy. I have always admired the special aroma of vegetables picked straight from the bed. On top of that, any garden always has plenty of fragrant herbs: dill, parsley, basil and so on.

The word “radiska” is more colloquial than the official “radis”. It is a relative of the black radish, and interestingly, the Latin word radix means root. In fact, the most edible part of the plant is the little root under the ground. To be honest, I don’t even know whether the tops can be eaten, though they say they can. It is a vegetable with a very small root, rarely more than 3-3.5 cm across. Its bright pink-red color, often with a white tail, always cheers me up.

The taste of radish is somewhat unusual: slightly sharp, it bites the tongue. It contains mustard oil, which gives it this flavor. This property of the root is used in many dishes. For example, okroshka with kvass, is most often made slightly spicy by adding finely chopped radish, and the heat of the dish is controlled by how much goes in.

Radish is an early-ripening vegetable. It is tastiest in the first weeks after it appears in stores, and then its quality drops noticeably. Buy a bunch with nice, firm leaves that are brightly colored and not damaged by pests. The roots should be crisp and juicy. When cut, there should be no signs of stringiness or hollow spots.

I recommend adding the freshest cucumbers and tomatoes to the salad. I like all the vegetables in the salad to be cut large. In the past, vegetable salads at home were made with everything cut quite small. Now we prefer to cut tomatoes and cucumbers into long sticks or wedges where possible. The radishes we cut large, into halves or quarters. An ordinary vinaigrette dressing, a mixture of olive oil and wine vinegar, works very well here.

7 ingredientsTo the recipe

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Ingredients

2 servings

Young radishes 1 bunch
Ripe tomatoes 2-3
Young cucumbers 2
Green onion 1
Basil 2-3 sprigs
Cilantro 5-6 sprigs
Salt, sugar, oregano, olive oil, wine vinegar for the dressing

Step-by-step recipe

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Since this salad is made of fresh vegetables, they should be as fresh as possible. Ideally, pick them from the garden bed. Still, any local market has a good selection. Buy a large bunch of young crisp radishes, preferably with the tops on, since their condition tells you how fresh they are. The tomatoes can be multicolored and small, so they are easy to cut into wedges. The cucumbers should also be as young and crisp as possible.
Wash the cucumbers and tomatoes and dry them well. Get a deep bowl ready for mixing the salad. Cut the tomatoes into wedges and put them in the bowl. I like small elongated tomatoes in different colors. They make any radish salad look beautiful and don’t release much juice. By the way, if there is a lot of liquid, you can throw away the seeds and add more tomatoes to the salad.
Small young cucumbers don’t need peeling. Just cut off the tips. Cut the cucumbers lengthwise into thick strips or sticks. Cutting with a crinkle-cut vegetable knife looks very effective, and you will like it. Add the cut cucumbers to the tomatoes. Season the vegetables lightly with salt, add a pinch of sugar and a pinch of dried oregano. Mix gently.
Cut the tops and “tails” off the radishes. Wash the vegetables thoroughly. Inspect them as you go, removing any damage and traces of soil, then dry them well. If the roots are small, it is enough to cut them in half. Larger ones are better cut into quarters. Also check for damage inside, as pests are common. Add the radishes to the salad bowl.
Wash and dry the herbs. Besides cilantro and basil, you can add dill and parsley. Pull all the leaves off the sprigs. Don’t chop the herbs, as that releases a lot of liquid. The cilantro leaves can go straight into the salad, and the basil should be torn with your fingers into large pieces. Mix the radish salad and divide it among serving bowls.
In a cup or small bowl, mix 3 tbsp of the best olive oil and 1 tsp of wine vinegar. You can use balsamic vinegar, which is more aromatic. Whisk the mixture well so the ingredients of the dressing combine. Pour the dressing over the salad right before serving. You can garnish with a sprig of herbs. Serve as an appetizer or as a side dish for fried meat.