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Recipe: Caramelized Radishes and Onions with Lardons

I’ve never understood why more people don’t cook radishes. Once they’ve been roasted or sautéed, they have such a beautiful texture and sweetness to them. Basically, the complete opposite of what most people know of radishes; being crunchy and sometimes a little spicy.

This simple recipe uses lardons (essentially thick cut bacon) as it’s base to help caramelize onions, radishes and and that salty goodness we all know and love about bacon. Happily eaten on a plate by itself, or cooled slightly and served on top some slices of toast that have been slathered with greek yogurt. Mmmm….

What you’ll need…

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/3 cup lardons or 4 slices of thick-cut bacon, 1/4″ sliced

1 yellow onion (halved and thinly sliced)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 bunch radishes (washed, greens removed, but reserved)

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons lemon juice

salt and pepper (to season)

Directions:

Heat oil in a medium pan on medium-high heat. Once hot, add bacon and let cook until brown and crispy on all sides, approximately 5 minutes. Transfer from pan to paper towel to absorb any excess grease.

Add sliced onion and butter to pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Reduce to medium heat and continue to cook until onions turn golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Add a splash or two of water to the pan if the onions begin browning too quickly.

Add radishes to the pan and let cook until they become tender and start to brown just slightly. Return crispy bacon to pan, as well as reserved radish greens and remaining ingredients into the pan and toss several times until everything is combined. Continue to cook for a few minutes to wilt greens, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Serves 2-3

Total cook time…25 minutes

I decided to use this radish recipe and combine it with a simple white wine/chicken stock-based risotto I was making. The result was phenomenal, so feel free to try it out too!