This elegant warm radish-and-potato salad makes a fancy first course, or a light lunch when served with crusty bread and butter on the side. Instead of a vinaigrette, the salad is dressed with a bright and zingy pesto made with radish greens and fresh mint leaves. If your radishes don’t have greens or if there aren’t enough for this recipe, substitute or supplement with watercress or baby arugula. Rinse the radish greens in cool water to remove any grit. We love how the pesto tastes with the hot smoked trout (or salmon), but you can replace the fish with grilled shrimp, hard-cooked eggs, or shredded chicken if you prefer. Round red radishes work well in this recipe, but you can find many other varieties of these root vegetables at the farmers’ market, such as rainbow radishes or white icicle. Experiment with different types of radishes and discover a new favorite.
How to Make It
Prepare the Radishes: Remove the greens. Trim Radishes, and set aside. Discard any tough stems from greens. Rinse greens, and blot dry. Set aside 1/2 cup lightly packed greens for Pesto, and set aside 1/4 cup lightly packed greens for Salad. (Discard any remaining greens, or reserve for another use.)
Prepare the Pesto: Pulse together Parmesan, almonds, garlic, lemon zest and juice, salt, and pepper in a food processor until finely chopped, 7 to 8 times. Add mint leaves and reserved 1/2 cup radish greens; pulse until finely chopped, 6 to 7 times. Add oil; pulse until mixture forms a loose paste with a bit of texture, 6 to 7 times. Store, tightly covered, in refrigerator up to 1 week.
Prepare the Salad: Preheat oven to 375°F. Halve any radishes or potatoes that are larger than a golf ball; leave the rest whole. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Add garlic; drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat; spread mixture in a single layer. Roast in preheated oven until vegetables are tender and browned in spots, about 30 minutes.
Divide roasted vegetable mixture evenly among 4 plates; top with trout, Parmesan, mint leaves, and reserved 1/4 cup radish greens. Sprinkle with shallot and lemon peel strips. Top each Salad with 2 tablespoons Pesto. Serve immediately.