Miso Glazed Roasted Radishes

👩🏻‍🍳 Tamara Talks – About Roasted Radishes

I LOVE radishes – the crunch and the bit of peppery flavor add pizazz to tacos, salads, and more. I love them plain or with European butter and sea salt. (Yes, that is a “thing”)  🙂 It took me some time to warm up to the idea of cooking this vegetable. Preconceived notions perhaps?

Radishes are a root from the Brassica family and are a cousin to the cabbage. Scratching my head emoji needed here.  😀 I don’t taste a connection, but I trust my sources! You may be surprised to know that radishes contain a good amount of Vitamin C, as well as smaller amounts of other important vitamins and minerals. Radishes are a good source of dietary fiber. For more on nutrition information of radishes, see What are Radishes Good For?.

My inspiration for Roasted Miso Glazed Radishes was twofold: 1. Gorgeous multi-colored radishes at my farmers market. 2. My friend Jennifer Stewart of Take Two Tapas’ Crispy Roasted Garlic Radishes. Rarely do I find radishes with really nice greens, and I love color in my food! I used some of the lovely greens in the dish, and I’ve got a zip bag full for a planned fermented radish greens.

📋 Ingredients You’ll Need

Here is a quick look at the ingredients in the recipe – it’s handy to use at the grocery store or as a summary of what you need. Skip to the recipe for quantities. Asian cooking requires Asian sauces. They’re widely available, but if you can’t find them, check Amazon!

• radishes – My personal experience with fresh radishes is that the greens are already drooping, and unusable. On photo day, I had farmers’ market radishes with gorgeous greens, and I used them! All. The. Yes.!
• shallots
• olive oil
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper
• light miso paste – I use light/white miso in this recipe, but you’ll be fine with darker miso. Miso paste is typically “gluten free,” but you want to confirm. If you can’t find it locally, you can get miso paste on Amazon.
• tamari – Tamari is naturally gluten free, but again, confirm. Find tamari on Amazon.
• mirin – Again, if you have trouble finding Asian sauces locally, you can find mirin on Amazon.
• sesame oil – As above, find sesame oil on Amazon.
• sriracha – Most markets now carry sriracha sauce, but if not, this is the brand of sriracha I use, and it’s available from Amazon.

🔪 Step-By-Step Instructions

1. Prepare the radishes – Preheat oven to 400 degrees (375 convection). As described in the post, remove greens from the radishes, and wash everything thoroughly. Remove any bad spots on the greens if using. Coarsely chop the prepared greens. Cut any large radishes in half lengthwise. Drizzle the olive oil over the radishes, and season lightly with sea salt and pepper. The glaze adds more saltiness. Use your hands to combine well. Place on a baking sheet or casserole in a single layer, and into the hot oven.
2. Roast the radishes – Roast 10 minutes. While the radishes roast, whisk together the glaze ingredients – miso paste, tamara, mirin, sesame oil, sriracha. Stir in the miso glaze and the radish greens if using. Cook an additional 10 minutes +/- until the radishes have some nice caramelization. Remove from the oven and enjoy! 

💭 Tips

About radishes – Scrub the radishes. Root vegetables can hide a lot of dirt. I usually fill a large bowl with water, submerge the radishes, and swish vigorously. It helps remove that dirt!

This miso glaze is great on other roasted vegetables – asparagus, snap peas, bell peppers, etc.

Given that my husband and I are trying to lose the “middle-aged bulge,” we are watching our carbs. I find these Roasted Miso Glazed Radishes provide much of the satisfaction of other root vegetables with fewer calories and lower in carbohydrates at only 3 g per serving (7 radishes). Sounds like a win/win right?

On the other hand, if carbs are not an issue, you might want to pair these miso glazed radishes with these Asian-style mashed potatoes.