radishes

Desirable Avocado Toast with French Breakfast Radishes – A 5 minute Meal

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 3 Comments

I am always cooking. Almost every day. I, at times, have a love-hate relationship with cooking. Some days I chose not to cook, but we still have to eat…no? Yes. This is what we might have on those days. I realize there are at least one million, at least, Pinterest Boards dedicated to avocados and toast…I haven’t counted but I’m pretty sure this is somewhat true. Avocado on toasted bread is de regueur for all modern minded folks from coast to coast.

There is no recipe, but desire. There is no one way to make it except the way you like it with a just right-ripe avocado and the best bread you can get your hands on. It takes 5 minutes at most.

A sprinkling of thinly sliced Spring/French Garden radishes from the Nashville Farmer’s Market for a bit of crunch topped off lightly with sea salt. You’re good to go.

Eat Well…eat healthy.

Desirable Avocado Toast with French Breakfast Radishes

Ingredients for this “not real” recipe:

  • very good crusty loaf of bread…homemade or store-bought
  • just ripe avocados that are “smush-able
  • french breakfast radishes or other locally grown radishes or from grocery
  • crunchy seal salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • arugula leaves

Directions for this “not real” recipe”:

  1. Toast bread.
  2. “Smush” ripe avocados onto bread.
  3. Top with thinly sliced radishes.
  4. Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.
  5. Top with arugula leaves.
  6. Eat. Enjoy.

Teresa Blackburn    http://www.teresablackburnfoodstyling.com

 

A Short Story with Salted Radishes

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 27 Comments

I found these images among so many others I had forgotten about the other day. They are from our last trip to Amsterdam to visit Wouter’s mother together.  Soon after this visit Elizabeth died. but I saw these photos and remembered going to the market and returning to her house overlooking a beautiful canal right in the city with a bag of  great cheeses, bread and these fresh, crisp radishes.

The three of us ate them as they are best eaten….very cold with a dusting of sea salt. Biting into a salted radish is a delight to the palate. Crunchy, a bit peppery and salty, they are the perfect, simple appetizer to serve on a warm early summer day with a glass of cold wine or beer. A good aged Gouda and bread round it all out.

It is funny how food can be such a memorable part of our personal histories.  Recalling what you eat, with whom, where you enjoyed it and when is a fine thing indeed. So these salted radish images reminded me of this and what a fine early summer afternoon Wouter, Elizabeth and I had just sitting and talking, sipping our drinks and enjoying each others company laughing and telling stories while every so often biting into a radish.

Bon Appetit.

Get ready, Get set for Summer Holiday Eating with “The Peace, Love and Potato Salad” Cookbook’s “The Classic Potato Salad”

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 9 Comments

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The 4th of July Holiday weekend is right around the corner and nothing says summer holidays like a bowl of homemade potato salad. This is one of the summer recipes I developed for “The Peace, Love and Potato Salad” Cookbook and is one of my favorites.

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This recipe (without the balsamic vinegar and radishes) is pretty much the version I grew up with. Pickles, pickle juice, cooked eggs, and potatoes were the basic ingredients. Potato Salad has grown up and stepped into the modern, international world of cuisine with style!

You can serve in a bowl of course, but individual servings in little resealable jars kept chilled until ready to eat creates a homey-modern touch.

Get ready, get set for your summer holidays with potato salad, peace and love!

Images by Danielle Atkins Photography  http://www.danielleatkins.com/#!eat/c1ywd

A quick visit over to Spring House Press’s website http://springhousepress.com/new-products/peace-love-potato-salad is one way to reserve your copy of “The Peace, Love and Potato Salad” cookbook to be released on July 15th. If you enter the promo code – FOF35 – you’ll also receive a 35% discount at check-out and the code is good until September 1st! That’s a pretty yummy savings isn’t it?

The Classic Potato Salad

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Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds red-skinned potatoes, peeled & cut into 1 inch chunks
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup diced red onion
  • 1/4 cup chopped dill pickles
  • 1/4 cup pickle juice
  • 2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes
  • additional salt & black pepper to taste if needed

Directions:

  1. Cover potatoes with cold, salted water & bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender. Drain and cool.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, vinegar, salt, sugar and pepper until well mixed.
  3. Add potatoes, onion, pickles, pickle juice and eggs, gently tossing together. Sprinkle radishes over mixture, then cover and chill. Right before serving, taste, and adjust seasonings, adding salt and pepper if desired.

Recipe by Teresa Blackburn, reprinted with permission from Spring House Press from “The Peace, Love and Potato Salad” Cookbook. Release date: July 15th, 2016

Available from: http://springhousepress.com/new-products/peace-love-potato-salad Use Promo Code: FOF35 until September 2016 for 35% discount

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Peace-Love-Potato-Salad-Cookbook/dp/1940611385/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466979630&sr=1-1&keywords=the+peace+love+%26+potato+salad+cookbook

So Long Summer Salad – Watermelon, Radishes, Tomatoes & Strawberries

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 18 Comments

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This is probably it…the last great watermelon until next summer…crisp little colorful radishes, a handful of strawberries that taste like strawberries and meaty baby Roma tomatoes…my So Long Summer Salad. Bye bye for now…see you later…Sayanora sweet friends.

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All cut up in a bowl…..

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drizzled with this sublime Apple Balsamic Vinegar.

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Tossed and chilled. Cold, crunchy, sweet and savory. Delicious piled on a bed of peppery arugula alongside a grilled steak. So long summer…it’s been good to know ya…

The Del McCoury Band – So Long, It’s Been Good To Know You

So Long Summer Salad with Watermelon, Radishes, Tomatoes and Strawberries

  • Servings: 4
  • Print

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Ingredients:

  • 3 cups of fresh watermelon cubes
  • 4 small radishes thinly slices
  • a handful of baby Roma, cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
  • ripe, juicy strawberries, capped & cut in half lengthwise
  • Apple Balsamic Vinegar (or Orange Balsamic or other fruit flavored Balsamic vinegar)
  • Sea Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

  1. Put all the fruit in a large mixing or serving bowl. Drizzle with 2 or 3 tablespoons of the Apple Balsamic vinegar. Toss fruit to coat with vinegar. Chill covered for about 20 minutes.
  2. Right before serving, drizzle with additional vinegar, salt & black pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Teresa Blackburn      www.foodonfifth.com       http://www.teresablackburnfoodstyling.com

Travels in the Yucatan – La Flor de Santiago Salsa

~ Teresa Blackburn ~ 9 Comments

 

Yucatan & Quintana Roo 2011
Merida, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Progreso, Campeche, Muna, Chetemal, Mahuahual, Xpuha….
In the heart of Merida near the Mercado, is one of my favorite restaurants, La Flor de Santiago.
Steaming cups of cafe au lait, freshly made pastries, huevos, frijoles negros, mango, papaya, pina…all make this a favorite of local residents.  Stepping  from the morning already warm street into the darkly cool interior of La Flor de Santiago was the perfect start to what turned out to be a perfect day.
Radish Salsa from La Flor de Santiago

There is always something memorable to eat and this visit was no exception. Along with abundant choices for breakfast there was a really unusual and delicious salsa made with radishes. It was a bit sweet, salty, crunchy with a hint of oranges & limes. I had it with my eggs and went back for more. I keep a little notebook with me when I travel to jot down recipe ideas or recipes that I find and want to try at home. I call my version, “La Flor de Santiago Salsa”.
Ingredients you will need:
12 Radishes, washed and trimmed & diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Juice from one orange
Juice from one/half lime
1 tsp raw or brown sugar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
1. Put orange & lime juice in a mixing bowl. Add diced radishes.
2. Add chopped cilantro, 1 tsp raw sugar & 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper.
3. Stir ingredients together, cover & chill for at least 1 hour before eating.
Serve as a side for grilled or baked fish or chicken, or eat with crispy tortilla chips.
I coated a piece of fresh tuna with herbs de Provence and pan-seared it in a bit of olive oil, adding some fresh mango slices along with my radish salsa.