radish toasts with lemon butter

Savoring my fall radish harvest with simple radish toasts with lemon butter and sea salt. Jump to recipe. 

My fall garden began as the consolation prize for blighted tomatoes and eight cauliflower plants that grew to four feet without ever developing actual heads of cauliflower. I had a trove of seeds leftover from my spring planting, so I tossed them in to my raised beds, mussed the dirt, and left it at that.

At first, not much happened. The first frost came and went. In late November, we had a spate of nights with lows in the twenties and plenty of rain in between. The kale and collard seedlings have unfurled, but barely, while the beets have just started taking off, seemingly unaware of the waning light and umber landscape. The radishes, though, are thriving. I planted a mishmash of seeds – classic red, Easter egg, and icicle and they’ve all gone gangbusters. They seem to love nothing more than a stretch of dark, rainy days and fill the otherwise bleak late fall garden with a shock of vivid green leaves.

From the outset, I knew I wanted something simple and timely. Spring radish recipes are a celebration of new growth, while my late fall harvest is more of a last hurrah. In fitting with the season, and the piles of citrus strewn across my counter, I opted for lemon butter made with grass-fed salted butter, lots of lemon zest, and a pinch or two of sea salt. The butter, spread on warm bread, with a layer of radishes, a pinch of sea salt, and a drop or two of lemon juice, might just be the cold weather answer to the tomato sandwich, which is to say, sublime and effortlessly of the moment.

The recipe below is for proper radish toasts; please also feel free to dip your radishes right into the butter, add some sea salt, and chomp with abandon.

Print Recipe

Radish Toasts with Lemon Butter

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

Total Time

15 mins

 

Savoring my fall radish harvest with simple radish toasts topped with a lively lemon butter and sea salt.

Recipe Type: Appetizer

Makes: 2 servings

Author: Brooklyn Supper

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons high-quality salted butter, room temperature
• grated zest of 2 lemons plus 2 lemon wedges for serving
• flaky sea salt
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 bunch radishes, scrubbed, trimmed, and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
• 4 slices bread, lightly toasted

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, vigorously stir to combine butter, lemon zest, and sea salt. If you have the time, allow flavor to commingle for an hour or so at room temperature.
2. To serve, slather sliced bread with lemon butter (this is no time for restraint!), arrange radish slices (the more, the better), and finish with a pinch sea salt, a twist of pepper, and a tiny squeeze of lemon.