In our online feature, In Season, we highlight seasonal fruits and vegetables throughout the year. What they are, the different varieties, their health properties, and how to incorporate them into your cooking.

RADISHES

What: Radishes, a root vegetable, boast a bright, crisp texture and a slightly sharp, peppery taste. Commonly added to salads or carved into decorative rosettes, radishes are perfect for all sorts of dishes hot and cold. They’re also a great candidate for pickling.

Varieties: The red radish, with a bright red skin and white interior, is the most common. Other varieties include the breakfast radish, which is longer and features a white tip, and the vibrantly hued watermelon radish, so called because the exterior is greenish, and the interior is bright pink. There’s also the longer, thicker Daikon radish, often used in slaw. Use any and all of them when you can find them.

Health properties: Radishes contain folic acid, potassium, and ascorbic acid, as well as vitamin B6 and C. They’re a great snack food for those watching their calories because they’re filling and low in calories.

Plays well with: Carrots, red meat, sea salt, black pepper, cucumber, butter and bread, fresh herbs, salmon, tuna, quinoa.

Simple ways to use: Sliced with baguette, butter and salt (a classic French snack). Sliced, quartered or whole in salads. Pickled along with carrots and used as a sandwich topper. Roasted with other root vegetables.

Storage: Store radishes, without their tops, in a plastic bag in your refrigerator crisper.

Get cooking with radishes!

Fresh spring salad

Root vegetable slaw

Crispy fennel cakes with smoked salmon

Seared chicken supremes with ginger slaw

Savoury chicken meatballs with medley of veggies

Baked falafel multigrain salad

Pink grapefruit, kale and radish salad

Radish and beet salad

Pickled radishes and carrots

Roasted red radishes, tomatoes and onions

What’s your favourite way to use radishes? Let us know in the comments below!