They show up in the salads of every diner you visit and are a mainstay of produce aisles, but radishes are not the kind of thing you go crazy over. I’ve never heard of any cookbooks dedicated to them or festivals celebrating them. They are more of an afterthought. But there they were in my CSA share, coming at a rate of six to eight a week, so I decided to make an effort to use them.

The other night, I happened to have a homemade seaweed salad hanging out in my fridge (not common for the average person, I know, but this is me we’re talking about) and a bell went off.

I realized that the soft texture of the ‘weed and the crunch of the radishes would go together beautifully, with the shallow spice of the radish complimenting the deep, subtly salty flavor of its companion. Not only that, but the dark green of the seaweed with the vibrant pink and bright white of the radishes would also look mighty fine together.

So I devised and test drove a recipe that I think came out quite well. I wrote it out here with instructions for making it all from scratch. I’m taking the liberty of assuming you won’t have reconstituted seaweed sitting around.

Radish and seaweed salad
Serves about 4

Ingredients:
1 handful dried wakame seaweed, or other stringy seaweed
1 small bunch radishes, sliced in half moons
3 Tbs. umeboshi plum vinegar, or other vinegar with a sprinkling of sugar and salt
2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1-2 tsp. sesame seeds
Soy sauce (optional)

What to do:
Soak the seaweed in cold water for 10 minutes or until soft. Meanwhile, slice the radishes and let them soak in the vinegar.

Drain the seaweed and chop into bite-sized pieces. Remove the radish slices from their vinegar bath, reserving the vinegar. Combine and toss with sesame oil and sesame seeds. Add some vinegar or soy sauce if desired.

Eat!