SUPER SIMPLE RADISH SALAD WITH CREME FRAICHE

A few months back, Paul and I went to a dinner at Camino celebrating David Tanis' latest book, One Good Dish. The entire meal was delicious, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about one brilliantly simple dish that really spoke to me. Radishes - any sort you can get your hands on - are thinly sliced and topped with a dollop of crème fraîche, nice salt and ground black pepper. Crisp, tangy, creamy, salty all at the same time...yes!

If you can find them, I suggest using a variety of radishes in your salad. At Monterey Market, I picked up standard red beauties along with watermelon and black radishes - each added its own distinct flavor and texture.

INGREDIENTS adapted from David Tanis's One Good Dish
printable recipe

• 1/2 pound radishes
• 1/4 cup crème fraîche (see my recipe for homemade crème fraîche)
• optional: a few drops of milk, water or cream
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (I also like smoked salt as as substitute for the salt and pepper - it's delish!)

Get out your sharpest knife, or mandolin, and slice radishes as thin as possible. With bigger radishes like watermelon or black, you may want to halve or quarter the rounds. Scatter radishes onto individual plates or a larger platter.  Whisk crème fraîche with a few drops of liquid to make it a little loose. Scoop a generous dollop of the runny crème fraîche onto the radishes. Sprinkle smoked salt, or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper over the entire dish. That was easy, right?

Serves 4
  
The days are getting longer, birds have returned to our garden, our fruit trees are leafing out, and asparagus has come to the farmer's market. I don't know about you, but I get a jolt of childlike glee every time I see a new sign that spring is on its way!