Roasted Radishes and Radish Greens

I really like radishes, so I was happy to have them in our share this week. In the past, I've always just composted the greens and then used the radishes sliced in a salad. I thought we should try something different this time.

Ingredients:
Radishes (from 1 bunch)
Radish greens (from the same bunch)
Olive oil (a couple tablespoons)
Lemon juice (a couple tablespoons)
Coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. That's right--500. Remove stem remnants and roots from radishes and compost remnants and roots. Halve radishes. Remove stems from radish greens and compost stems. Chop greens. Put radishes and greens in a small oven-safe dish. Toss with the oil and lemon juice, and add salt and pepper to taste. Put in oven and roast for about 20 minutes, until radishes are fairly tender.

Comments:
From what I'd read about radish greens being peppery, I think I expected more spice from them. Even raw, I didn't get the peppery kick I had read about. As expected, the greens reduced in size dramatically after being cooked. I was interested in how the heat from the oven (perhaps combined with the lemon juice?) caused a good deal of the pink/purple color to leach out of the radishes.

I thought this was a decent dish, tastewise. The greens adopted the lemony flavor nicely. The radishes were less flavorful, and they didn't have any radishy bite after cooking. In this household, we typically don't repeat recipes that are just okay, and I suggested to Steve that perhaps this wasn't repeatable. He disagreed, saying he thought it was good. Liam gladly ate the greens and asked for more, so again, I handed over some of my tiny portion. I didn't want to give them up, but I'm thrilled that Liam is liking greens. He ate all his radishes only because that was required of him before he got seconds on the rest of the meal. Annika spit out the single bite of radish she attempted. She ate one bite of the greens.

If I make this recipe again, I might cut the radishes into quarters rather than halves and decrease the cooking time accordingly. I think that would allow the greens to hold up a little better, and it might help preserve more nutrients and color.

I have more radish recipes lined up for next time!