What the experts say...
A handful of radishes contains just 5 calories, making them a great healthy snack whether you are dieting or just counting the calories. Radishes can also help dieters reduce portion sizes thanks to the crunch factor. It takes between 10 and 30 minutes for the brain to register the 'I'm full' signal from our stomachs so foods that need chewing, like radishes, slow down eating; this gives our bodies time to communicate the 'stop eating' message, meaning we may eat less and in turn lose weight. In addition, radishes have a lovely peppery flavour, so are ideal as a snack on their own, or with a low fat dip like tomato salsa or a tzatziki made with zero % fat yoghurt if you want to keep calories to a minimum.
Lowri Turner, nutritionist and TV personality –
for more on radishes from Lowri, see the Healthy Facts page
I've always loved radishes since I went to France as a kid. There's nothing more summery - whatever the weather - than a plate of fresh radishes, a pat of good butter and some freshly baked bread. Recently I've discovered they're much more versatile - that you can add them to salads or use them as a colourful topping for spreads. And - great for someone who's on a diet - that they're incredibly low in calories.
When it comes to matching wine - and other drinks - with radishes I like to go for wines that are crisp and fruity - fresh-tasting unoaked whites and rosés and light, fruity reds. Light lagers, cider and fresh citrussy cocktails are great too.
In France they'll often put a plate of radishes on the table with a carafe of local wine to sip and nibble as you decide what to eat. It's a nice thing to offer guests at home too before the meal kicks off.
Fiona Beckett - food and drink matching expert –
for food and drink matches from Fiona see our international recipe collection
According to style bible Vogue, the most fashionable cocktail for spring will be a radish, ginger and vermouth martini, so get mixing!
Vogue
While Marie Claire suggest snacking on a handful of radishes as a great way to ‘cut out those naughty afternoon snack attacks’ in their Lunchbox Diet Tips feature.
Marie Claire
Radishes, like those little pots of cress, are one of the overlooked pleasures of the British vegetable repertoire. There are three main kinds of summer radish. Most familiar to us in this country are the almost-spherical globular varieties, which include our common radish, and tend to sweetness. Then there are the French breakfast radish type, longer and blunt-ended with a distinctive white tip. They are less sweet, sometimes with a faint bitterness. Radishes have only one calorie each, so if, like me, you have one too many good meals under your belt, then snack on them plain or dipped in Greek yogurt with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds and salt. Read more of Xanthe’s Telegraph article on radishes.
Xanthe Clay – Food writer for the Daily Telegraph
A radish with bread and butter is one of those modest pleasures that is as nourishing to the soul as tomatoes and salt or salami with gherkins. It was their destiny to find each other for man’s joy.
Valentine Warner, TV presenter and author of ‘What to Eat Now’
To eat them raw, just wash the roots and have them with sea salt. To help the salt stick smear the radishes in some salted butter.
Sarah Raven – Food writer
Crisp, peppery little summer radishes are indeed the perfect way to kick–start a meal, bold enough to set the gastric juices flowing, yet barely denting the appetite.
Sophie Grigson – Author of The Vegetable Bible
I love, too, the generous bunches of radishes at the market, their leaves tied with rubber bands, their tips as clean and white as snow.
Nigel Slater, chef and presenter
Peppery, breakfast radishes are full of flavour now. Trim away all but a small stub of their stems for ease of eating. They are gorgeous munched for breakfast in the Victorian style with potted shrimp, watercress and plenty of buttered toast.
Sybil Kapoor, Waitrose Magazine
