Roasted Radishes and Spring Onions with Miso Compound Butter
Juicy and mellow roasted radishes and spring onions compliment a uniquely flavorful miso compound butter, all on top of a thick slab of crusty sourdough bread in this farmers market inspired dish.
I love radishes. The crunch, the spicy bite, the sweetness, all of it. I usually prefer to eat them fresh in salads or simply cleaned and left whole, slathered in good butter or dipped in hummus. But I have a special place in my heart for the transformation that happens when you roast them. They mellow a whole lot in flavor, and they become tender and juicy and sweet. A perfect accompaniment to spring onions.
Together, they are magic. But then you add the butter. Ohhhhh the butter. See, this isn’t just any ol’ butter. I had this stroke of genius one day when I was having a snack attack and looking through my fridge and saw the butter and miso and had a lightbulb explosion. I immediately pulled them out and mixed them and spread them on some sourdough toast and my eyes rolled back with every bite, it was so delicious. And guess what? The combination of the three: miso, cultured butter, and sourdough bread are not only heavenly in flavor, they are each packed full of tummy-friendly probiotics.
And I know the title of this dish can seem a little overwhelming. Snobby, even. But it couldn’t be simpler. You basically clean, trim, and then halve, quarter, or leave whole the radishes to keep them uniform in size, do the same to the spring onions, peel the garlic, drizzle with a touch of olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and stick them in the oven. While they roast, you twiddle your thumbs and wait, and in 15 or so minutes, they’re done. Pull the garlic out, smash it, mix with softened cultured butter and a touch of miso, slather it on some sourdough, and top with the rest of the roasted veg. And you get to pull off a beautiful appetizer with very little effort. I’m a big fan of simple but beautiful, unexpected but palate-pleasing, classic but unique food. And this meets those requirements.
I know, I like a little bread with my butter. But in my defense, that butter is about one-third roasted garlic. And wait, who am I kidding? I am proud of my butter-love. Especially when it’s grassfed and cultured. What’s not to love?
So go out to your local farmers market and pick up a bunch of perfectly in-season radishes, and try this out.
Enjoy!
- 1 bunch radishes, cleaned and trimmed
- 1 bunch spring onions*, cleaned and trimmed
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed
- 1 tablespoon good quality olive oil
- sea salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons cultured, grassfed butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon white miso
- 4 thick slices of crusty sourdough bread**
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Halve, quarter, or leave whole the radishes so that they are similar, bite sized pieces. Do the same with the spring onions. In a baking dish large enough to hold all of the vegetables, toss together the radishes, onions, garlic, olive oil, and salt. Roast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the vegetables have golden brown spots. Remove the garlic and set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, mash the garlic with a fork and add the butter and miso. Stir to mix thoroughly. Spread some of the butter onto a slice of bread, and plate alongside or under about a quarter of the vegetables. Repeat with remaining bread, butter, and vegetables. Serve immediately.
- *If spring onion varieties are unavailable to you, you can use red onions, cut into bit sized pieces, or shallots.
- **I like to make my own. For this particular recipe, I preferred a whole wheat sourdough, but of course white sourdough would be lovely as well.
Comments
- Miso-Butter and Shiitake Pasta - Scratch Eats - […] and Butter. Oh, yes. They are a magical combination, and one you need to try together. I’ve talked about…
