These crunchy Dandy Radish MiniSticks happen to be one of the cutest product reviews I’ve ever done. I am always thrilled to have a real food to taste test. My dad always grew radishes in his garden when I was little and would dip them into a spoonful of salt. I say let’s widen the radish repertoire!
The radishes are cut into matchsticks, sold in little ready-to-eat packages and are ready to toss into recipes, salads, and more. Radishes have barely any calories per serving (about 20 per cup) but are full of other nutritious things like Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Magnesium, Copper and Manganese, Fiber, Vitamin C, Folate and Potassium. (From Nutrition Data). I love the punch of color they add to dishes.
I have to say, radishes haven’t always been on my favorite vegetables list. But that is mostly because, while beautiful, the red spheres that come out of the ground are not the easiest to use in the kitchen. Why had I not thought to slice them into sticks before? In a different shape you have an extremely versatile veggie that adds color, nutrition and crunch. You could do this yourself, but the availability of these pre-cut radish sticks will save you lots of time and energy.
Here are five ways I’ve enjoyed the Dandy Radish Ministicks over the past couple of weeks:
1) Of course salads were the easiest and most frequent way I enjoyed them, and I incorporated them all week into my lunches. Love the purple color they brought to a green salad and the extra crunch.
2) Sautéed atop a burger. When I heated up my No Bull Burger I threw in some radish alongside in the pan.
I enjoyed them cooked even more!
3) Incorporated into a massaged kale salad
We made this massaged kale salad to take to our friends’ cookout. It turned a boring green pile into a colorful, crunchy, gourmet side dish.
4) As a sandwich topper. Cruuuuunch!
I layered avocado, sheep’s milk cheese, radish, salt and pepper onto a slice of whole wheat bread. Loved this combo!
5) Sautéed into side dishes of spinach and zucchini. Cooked in olive oil and garlic with salt and pepper, radishes amped up basic sautéed spinach served alongside salmon and potatoes and fresh zucchini another night.
I also turned them into baby food once they were cooked soft enough for Mazen to eat.
And made a radish slaw to take to a friend’s for lunch one day! Just a little Greek yogurt, mustard, salt, pepper and paprika turned them into a creamy, crunchy lunch.
Other ideas are to toss them into soups, roll them up into wraps and spring rolls and simmer into sauces. Ever had a radish pizza!?
Those of you who live in Virginia are most in luck – the Dandy Radish MiniSticks are starting out available in Wal-Mart stores in the Gordonsville, VA area. Hopefully you’ll find some near you soon.
This post is sponsored by Dandy Radish MiniSticks!
[email protected] says
They are very cute! Ideal for prettifying food without the time consuming chopping!
Sophie says
I’m in the uk but actually got some radish the other day and have just been chucking them into salads. I love the idea of sautéing them! Also being cut into matchsticks really is a great idea.
Lisa C. says
Your meals always look so delicious and fresh. I really need to add more dark greens to our diets. I just need to put those thoughts into action!
Lisa C. says
Quick question: Do you make weekly meal plans or just wing it?
KathEats says
A little of both – I plan out the big things (ex. “Salmon on Monday with garden greens”) but I don’t plan recipes down to the ingredient
Becca says
Are these locally grown, or just sold in a WalMart in Gordonsville? Duda Farm Fresh Foods doesn’t appear local to Virginia (contact information is for Florida), and it doesn’t look like they grow their radishes in Virginia either, but rather California.
KathEats says
I must be mistaken about where they were grown. I’m asking for some clarification
Katie says
When you mentioned them in an earlier post I was wondering how you found the time to chop those sticks!!! I was hoping there was a fancy little kitchen equipment that could do it for me. I’ll definitely keep my eyes out for this bag, but not sure if it will make it to MN.
Lauren @ The Highlands Life says
Seriously, so perfect to have on hand. I have radishes in my fridge right now and get stumped on how to keep using them. The sticks make it easy to grab and toss in anything. I’ll keep a lookout for these!
Lea says
Sometimes the bite of a fresh red radish is too much, and cooking mellows them right out. I like cooking radishes, roughly cubed, along with their leaves (if they’re in good condition) in a sort of dry-curry manner: pop some mustard seeds in oil, add in the coriander, cumin, etc. and cook for a minute; add in the radishes and bit of water, cook until they start to soften a bit; add in the leaves and cook until a bit wilted, salt to taste. You do so much original cooking; ever tried that?
What’s your take on washing all these pre-bagged salad ingredients? I wash everything before eating, I don’t care how local/quality controlled/ready to eat the package claims to be.
KathEats says
I heard a talk from an RD who worked in microbiology that washing the prewashed lettuce actually just gives more chance to introduce bacteria from your sink, colander, etc. so just trust the prewash.
Kristin says
I’m a researcher that teaches biology as an adjunct at a local community college on the side, and one of the other professors at the community college that teaches a microbiology course has her students compare the levels of bacteria on washed/packaged lettuce and washed/packaged lettuce that have been soaked for 3 min in a diluted vinegar solution. As you would have thought, the vinegar soaked lettuce has less bacteria than the washed/packaged lettuce– but the washed/packaged lettuce certainly has bacteria on it. Since many salad dressings contain vinegar, this professor says that the change in flavor due to the vinegar wash isn’t too terribly noticeable, and she uses vinegar to clean most all of her veggies. So, if you want to clean your washed/packaged veggies, vinegar might be a good way to go… if you don’t mind it tasting a little like vinegar 🙂
Kinsey Drake says
My favorite, if slightly indulgent way, to enjoy radishes is to thinly slice them and place them on baguette slices with good, unsalted butter and some flakes of sea salt.
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
I was admiring how cute those were the other day on one of your posts and just figured you julienned them on a mandoline. How cute! I eat radishes every day…love em!
Karen says
Do precut vegetables lose their vitamin/mineral content? Someone told me that once and I’ve always tried to avoid precut veggies and fruits because of it.
KathEats says
Fresh from the ground and flash frozen veggies will have the maximum nutrition. I doubt the cutting process alters the veggies in any way, but if anything it’s the travel time from ground to grocery store to kitchen to food.
Liz says
I’m just re-discovering radishes too — I add them to quinoa bowls and love the crunch that they provide. Hopefully they will branch out to stores in Virginia other than Wal-Mart! I finally bought some No Bull burgers last night after seeing glowing reviews on your website and others — can’t wait to try them!
Karen says
How adorable!! Who knew the nutritional profile of these guys was so great?! I love all your creative ideas for incorporating them into your meals – now I just have to find them in my neck of the woods.:)
Happy weekend, Kath!
M Baker says
Since you know about nutrition, maybe you can answer a question for me. You post so often about drinking, and every time, I ask myself this question:
If you are nursing, how can you drink alcohol? I understood that it went into the milk, and thus into the baby. I have tried looking it up, but maybe you could enlighten me as to your point of view.
Otherwise, interesting post. Thanks, Maria
KathEats says
Medical professionals have told me that drinking moderately is fine. Very, very little alcohol gets to the milk.
cathy says
They actually sell strips that you can use to test your milk if you’re very concerned. 🙂
Angelica says
I read on kellymom that the rule of thumb is if you are sober enough to drive, you’re sober enough to breastfeed; otherwise, don’t risk it. My alcohol tolerance has gone way down since pregnancy and childbirth, so I don’t drink much these days (while still nursing an almost-2-year-old). Less calories to worry about burning later!
Angelica says
In regards to this post, it may be cheaper to just buy local radishes and grate them yourself. They won’t be as thick, but still crunchy and refreshing!
Kristin says
I love radishes on salads! I’ve never tried cooking them before, so I might have to try that sometime. I just searched online for the Dandy radish ministicks to find out if I can buy them near me, and I was surprised that their website says Dandy products can be found throughout North America, Europe and Asia and the only growing regions for radish are in Michigan and Florida? Just wondering how they are local to Virginia?
KathEats says
Sorry, I was mistaken based on where they are sold. I changed the post.
Susan H @ The Food Allergy Chronicles says
I have to admit…I am not a fan of radishes, therefore, I never buy them. However, having said that…I like the idea of them as matchsticks to add just a little crunch and bite to all the fun dishes you created. 🙂
[email protected] says
Those match stick radishes are so cute!!! I love all the ideas too. Maybe they will make their way here to Maine. 🙂
Chelsea @ Designs on Dinner says
My dad has a plethora of radishes in his garden this year, so I’m glad to see all these different ways to use them! I don’t radish up much, but these ideas are great.
Tiffany says
Kath, Now that you are posting less often…your posts are so much more special when I see them in my reader! Its like a nice surprise! Hope you have a great weekend 🙂
I love radishes! My family munches on them with our rice dishes and herbs. I’ll definitely try cutting mine up into matchsticks! (I don’t think the brand is available where I live, otherwise I’d try it out.)
health fitness says
Those match stick radishes are so cute!!!
Donna says
Ughhhhhhh ! I will eat anything, I mean anything, but radishes are the one thing I will not touch. They are so gross! I try, but I do not see the appeal.
Emily @ The Sunny Studio says
“Mini Sticks” is the absolute cutest name!! I love adding veggies to different meals and seeing how different flavors and cooking techniques affect them. Fun post!
Shannon says
Those radishes look great, but unfortunately I just can’t bring myself to shop at Walmart. Between their union busting activities, gender discrimination, labor law violations, and sweat-shop clothing, it just isn’t the type of company I can support. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a perfect consumer by any means; in fact, in the society we live in it is pretty much impossible to do no harm, but I try my hardest to be mindful of the things I support with my money and think about the people’s lives who are impacted. I have had a couple of friends who worked at Walmart, and they have horror stories about the place. Not to get too serious, it’s just that my Pop was president of our local APWU for years and it is kind of an important subject to me!
Your salads always look so interesting and diverse! Yummy!
Lisa @bitesforbabies says
I have to show this post to my Dad…he LOVES radishes!! I personally don’t care for them much ;-(
Lindsay says
I hope these come to our area soon! Another idea: When we lived in Korea, radishes were a super popular side dish. They would lightly pickle them in either white vinegar or toss them in apple cider vinegar and chill for an hour. I’ve also tossed them with sugar, salt, and red pepper flakes for a kick. YUM. All of this was done in the stick version like what you are using above. I can’t wait to start cooking with them more now that we are back Stateside;)
Nicky Dowsett says
This is a great recipe. I love radishes but I’ve never tried radish ministicks before. This recipe looks so delicious and healthy. I can’t wait to try it. My mom and dad will definitely love this recipe. Thanks a lot! 😉
Cyn says
Yum…the make ahead meatball recipe was delish! We added freshly ground reggiano parmigiano cheese. Would love to see more of these quick, thoughtful summer time meal ideas!
Thank you!