Radish Leaf Remoulade

Springtime is all about green. Things that have been brown all winter (like the mud in my yard) are suddenly sprouting with new growth, and delicious edible leaves. Often when I think of food waste I think of restaurant take out, but there are more subtle ways that food waste shows up. Namely, edible parts of veggies that many Americans throw in the trash. Think peels of potato, carrot, cucumber, squash, citrus and sweet potato, or stems of parsley, basil, and cilantro.

Another culprit of this kind of veggie waste is root vegetable greens. Often carrot tops, turnip greens, radish leaves, and parsnip greens are chopped off and thrown away before they end up on the grocery shelf. But at farmers markets, and certainly in the garden these things show up with delicious edible leaves. I won’t go too deeply into the fact that grocery stores should not be throwing these things away, except to say it should change! Instead I want to focus on trying to use as many of those delicious leaves as possible. In my almost constant experimentation I sometimes manage to make something miraculously delicious and Radish Leaf Remoulade is one of those things.

In addition to being delicious it’s also versatile. As a matter of fact you do not need to use radish leaves at all. Substitute huge arugula that’s gotten a bit too big for the salad bowl (that’s actually what’s in the picture above). Mustard and turnip greens are also great, and I’ve made this sauce completely with herbs when I had piles of cilantro or parsley.

This remoulade is also versatile in terms of what how to use it. One of my favorite dishes is roasted salmon with radish leaf remoulade. I smear a good amount on the fish (I’ve also done it with red snapper and tilapia) and let it marinate before roasting, and then serve it with a bit more smeared on top or on the side to taste. It’s also great with shrimp and pasta, or rice and beans, or dolloped on top of soups (potato, tomato, chicken, etc.), or tossed with salads, or stirred with plain hummus or goat cheese. I could go on and on, suffice it to say this flavorful spread makes yummy things even better, and is using veggies and herbs that are often under appreciated and thrown in the trash.

Radish Leaf Remoulade

6-8 cups Radish leaves (can substitute almost any edible green leaf here, turnip, arugula, parsley, cilantro, mustard, spinach etc.)

3 Tablespoons chopped fresh ginger

1-2 Tablespoons fresh green herbs (e.g.:parsley, rosemary, cilantro) - optional

2 ounces cream cheese 

½ cup mayonnaise

1-2 cloves garlic

½ teaspoon salt

Clean the  leaves well. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the leaves. Bring the water back to a boil and cook for 1-2 minutes. Drain, then run cold water over them to cool. Squeeze out excess moisture.

Combine ginger and herbs if using in a food processor or blender and pulse until ginger is finely chopped. Add all remaining ingredients and process until creamy and smooth.

Note: This can be done without a food processor by finely chopping the blanched leaves, ginger and herbs, warming the cream cheese to soften it, and stirring together all the ingredients until smooth.

This sauce can be used on a huge variety of things to add fresh flavor. It’s great on 

Fish

Chicken

Tempeh

Pasta

Sandwiches

Tacos

Stirred into plain hummus

Used as a dip for veggies

Combined with rice and other grains

Added into biscuit dough

Tossed with Salads

Added to soups