By Kathryn Reed

Cooked radishes?

Yes.

Really?

Yes.

OK.

I decided to take Joy’s suggestion. After all, she had seen it done on the Food Network, so it must be a good idea.

To me, radishes are to eat as part of a relish tray or in a salad. It had never crossed my mind to cook them.

Joy said to roast them. She said the beets she was giving me from her community supported agriculture (CSA) box would be good roasted, too. I had never cooked a beet. Never used them in anything.

I didn’t bother to tell Sue I had no idea if what was going to come out of the oven was going to be good or if we might need to order pizza. Not too long into the process the house started smelling fabulous. My confidence was rising.

Now I’m looking forward to leftovers.

Everything but the olive oil in this dish came either from the CSA box or the farmers’ market. However, oil is sold at the South Lake Tahoe Tuesday market.

Cooking the radishes made them much less pungent. I would try them on the barbecue and maybe in other ways, too, in the future.

All the veggies were chopped in big chunks. The amount you need depends on how many people you are serving. I had about a handful of chopped basil.

Roasted Seasonal Veggies

Radishes

Beets

Zucchini

Crookneck squash

Spring garlic, bulb

Basil, rough chop

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut vegetables into large chunks – larger than bite size. Separate garlic bulb into cloves.

Put veggies into 9 x 13 glass dish. Sprinkle the garlic cloves throughout the dish. Evenly distribute basil on veggies. Pour olive oil over veggies. (A heavy drizzle.) Stir all together.

Cook in oven for between 30 and 40 minutes. (Test veggies as you go along because depending on what you use, some will take longer than others.)