Russian Radish Salad

Radish Salad is a staple on the Russian summer table. I grew up with a very large vegetable garden, filled with plenty of radishes, cucumbers, onions, dill, plus every other vegetable imaginable. As a result, there were always lots of vegetable salads we ate in the summertime.

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Is Radish Salad Healthy?

Radishes aren't that popular in western cuisine, and I don't know why. They're very healthy for you. They're a good source of vitamin C. A ½ cup of radish gives you about 30% of your daily intake. The best thing about radishes is that they are low calorie. How low? A ½ cup of sliced radishes provides about 12 calories. That is for plain radishes. Don't worry, we will add the fat content shortly!

Radish Salad with Sour Cream

If you dis-like the sharp flavor of radish, the sour cream will mellow out the sharpness in this salad. It's the perfect dressing for radishes. I think this salad tastes best with sour cream, try my homemade sour cream if possible. However, if you are worried about the fat content, you can substitute with Greek Yogurt. It has a lower fat content and is higher in protein compared to sour cream. Or just use a low fat sour cream. But the hero of this recipe is that amazing radish crunch. It's so satisfying to crunch through an easy 4 ingredient radish salad.

Home Grown Radishes and Cucumbers

I love growing radishes, it reminds of my childhood garden. All home grown veggies taste better. Radishes grow very fast in the garden, you can get several crops across the summer, and are an easy organic crop to grow with so many varieties. It takes about 4 weeks from sowing to harvesting fresh radish.

The other part of this salad is the cucumbers. We buy Long English Cucumbers, or Lebanese Cucumbers here in Australia work well. But growing up, we grew and ate different types of cucumbers. They're known as bush cucumbers, and aren't as long and smooth as varieties you buy in store. They are like the cucumbers you use for making dill pickles. Sometimes they can be a bit bitter, so we would peel the bitter skin off the cucumber before eating them. Either variety works great in this Cucumber Radish Salad with dill. Try some different varieties at your local Farmer's Market.

How to make Radish Salad

Russian Radish Salad only has a few ingredients. Slice the radishes and cucumbers the same thickness. By that, I mean thinly slice them! Add some freshly chopped dill and mix in sour cream as the salad dressing. Salt and pepper to taste and you're done. Sometimes I will add some finely chopped green onions, but that's not the usual way of making this Radish Salad.

Radish Salad Recipe Tips

• Prepare the vegetables in advance and keep them in the fridge in an airtight container. Mix in the sour cream, salt and pepper only when ready to serve.
• Add some finely chopped green onions
• For a lower fat version, substitute with Greek Yogurt instead of Sour Cream
• Try making homemade Russian Sour Cream for this recipe

Other Russian Salads You'll Love

• Olivier Potato Salad (Olivye)
• Vinegret Beet Salad
• Herring Under a Fur Coat Salad
• Creamy Tomato Cucumber Salad
• Korean Carrot Salad (Morkovcha)

So enough of the gardening lesson, this is a super easy salad to throw together in a few minutes, full of vitamins, and so very Russian! And don't forget about the amazing crunch! Bon Appetit! Приятного аппетита!

©PetersFoodAdventures.com

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