radish & orange salad

A radish is a beautiful thing. It is an underused root vegetable (besides the potato, aren't all root vegetables lonely?), which was first cultivated during pre-Roman times -- who knew? I love it for it's spicy, peppery flavour. While it can be a little shocking if eaten in a large crunchy chunk on it's own, a thinly sliced radish simply enhances the sweetness of everything that surrounds it. Lately, I've succumbed to thinly sliced radishes and organic butter on crostini, often sprinkled with fleur de sel. This works well as a sandwich too, but I prefer to enjoy as much of these two complementary flavours as possible; the sweet cream of the butter and a fire-kick from the radish. And sometimes, I just leave the bread out of the equation entirely. I was so entranced by this beautiful bunch of radishes, that something had to be done. I picked up a navel orange at the market. When it is as fiercely hot outside as it is, I just can't be chained to the stove, and I've become obsessively fond of oranges, with balsamic, and something licorice. This resulted in paper thin sliced radishes and oranges, basil with a splash of balsamic and olive oil. Just in case I needed an excuse to perfect my knife technique, this recipe is at least a hopeful start. Like I said, as you can see, it's a start. Radish & Orange Salad (serves 2) Ingredients: 4 large radishes 1 navel orange 3-4 basil leaves balsamico tradizionale (or your favourite balsamic) extra virgin olive oil fleur de sel, to taste 1. Slice the radishes and orange as thinly as possible, without losing a fingertip would be preferable. The radishes bleed enough of their own pretty pink colour on the cutting board. Just think of it as your "inner-chef" in training... OK, OK, not too thinly. 2. Immediately before serving, to avoid excessive bruising of the basil, finely chop the basil and combine with the sliced radishes and oranges. I found that chopsticks helped to maintain the delicate shapely predicament of the oranges. 3. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic. Sprinkle with fleur de sel.
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