Hi friends! Today I am sharing my new favorite side dish for spring. Roasted radishes with potatoes, crispy lentils and spinach drizzled in a buttermilk dressing.
Roasted Radishes
If you’ve never tried roasted radishes before, you are in for a treat! With a mildly spicy and peppery taste, these root vegetables are perfect to serve alongside steak (like this one) or roast chicken.
For this recipe, which is adapted from “The Modern Cook’s Year” by Anna Jones, I used three different types of radishes. The colors are just so gorgeous, right? The longer, skinnier ones are French breakfast radishes, the variegated ones are watermelon radishes, and the round ones are Easter egg radishes.
But feel free to use any type of radish you like! The key is to make sure to cut them (and the potatoes) to basically the same size. This ensures that the vegetables will cook evenly.
Also, make sure not to crowd your veggies when adding them to the sheet pan. You want them to roast, not steam.
To get the lentils crispy, just make the lentils as normal (follow the instructions below). But when you’re done, dry the lentils. You’re then going to bake them — tossed in a little olive oil and lemon zest — until they get perfectly crunchy.
Toss the roasted veggies and lentils all together with some fresh spinach or arugula. Then drizzle them with some buttermilk. And then you’re all set!
Print
Roasted Radishes and Potatoes with Crispy Lentils
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dried French green lentils (you can use du Puy or you can substitute black beluga lentils), picked over and rinsed
- 4 cups of water
- 1 pound radishes of any variety (no greens), trimmed
- 1 pound new potatoes, scrubbed
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest and 3 tablespoons juice (from 1 large lemon)
- 1 tablespoon honey (or agave nectar)
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or more as needed
- 1/4 cup buttermilk (or thin plain yogurt)
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups spinach or arugula leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
To Make the Lentils:
- Combine the lentils and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat until the liquid is gently bubbling.
- Cook lentils until they are barely tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- When ready to use, drain the lentils, spread them out on a clean dish towel and pat them dry.
- On a baking sheet, mix the cooked lentils with another 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, 1 teaspoon of the oil and all the lemon zest.
- Transfer the sheet to the oven (you can cook at the same time as the radish mixture), and cook both until the lentils are crisped and starting to blister in places, and
To Make the Radishes:
- Cut the radishes and potatoes into halves (or quarters, if larger) to get them roughly the same size.
- Toss them on a large, rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil, half the lemon juice, the honey and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt.
- Roast for 15 minutes until the radishes and potatoes are soft and starting to brown at the edges, about 15 minutes. Shake the pan once or twice during cooking, as needed.
To Make the Buttermilk Drizzle:
- While the lentils and the radishes are cooking, whisk together the buttermilk, the remaining lemon juice and the remaining two teaspoons of oil in a liquid measuring cup. Add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper. Taste, and add more salt as needed.
To Assemble:
- Toss the lentil, potato and radish mixture with spinach (or arugula) leaves on a large platter.
- Drizzle the buttermilk dressing over the top, and serve warm or room temperature.
Notes
- If you’re cooking the lentils in advance, store in the cooking liquid until ready to prepare.
