There’s no doubt that Autumn is in full swing here in Vermont. The leaves are at their brilliant best, my backyard is surrounded by red and yellow, and temperatures are dropping, especially after the sun goes down. We still haven’t had a frost, but with the night temperatures in the high 30s and 40s, it won’t be long. Mother Nature has been busy. There’s been lots of sun, some crazy pop-up showers and low but eerie, intense fall light, resulting rainbows, and the promise of Northern lights (too cloudy).
Chasing rainbows
My daughter and I chased a double rainbow last week, and she actually got a few shots of the end of the rainbow, hanging out of the car window with large plops of rain slapping against her! Not the first time we’ve chased a rainbow, and always memorable. It must have been good luck for someone in the little house at the rainbow’s end!
Last outdoor market of the season
Our last outdoor farmers market was this week, although there will still be indoor market events, and the farm stands are bursting with their fall harvests. Squash, pumpkins, and potatoes of all kinds, onions, beets, carrots, turnips, and the last of the zucchini and green beans. We have lots of greens, and will through the winter, but field tomatoes and corn are making their last delicious stands. Apples are a plenty this year, the last pears fast disappearing, and most of the local fruits have bid farewell. My freezer is stocked with berries that never last quite as long as I hope.
The winter radishes
At this time of year, we start getting the winter keeping radishes, and these will be with us through spring, brightening and livening up our meals – watermelon radish with their bright pink flesh and green exterior, you almost need sunglasses! Purple daikon radish, and the intensely spiced black Spanish radishes add zest and color. These radishes are full of nutrition, flavor, and texture, and will be reliable friends all season. They are delicious raw, but also quite tasty roasted or braised although we don’t often think of cooking radishes. Cooked or raw, they are a reliable winter staple pantry item for sure.
Enjoy it while you can!
There are still days where we can eat lunch outside and enjoy the sunshine. What better than to add more color to our beautiful foliage season than to create a salad from the inspiration? Here we’ve added a pick-me-up dressing using oranges and saffron to adorn the radishes, sunny colors and flavors. Carrots add even more color and crunch, pine nuts lend a buttery pop, radicchio a bit of the bitter, local micro-greens a little interest, and orange segments a sweet bite here and there.
Lots of nutrition, and of course, flavor
All delicious, all filled with vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients, and all quite inviting to behold. If you do not have the autumn radishes where you live, you can certainly substitute any garden or daikon radish in their place, and choose a green you love as well.
Happy Autumn! Here’s to catching a rainbow, and eating one too!
Harvest Radish Salad with Orange Saffron Vinaigrette
For the salad, arrange it how you like:
• 1 large carrot, cut into strips with peeler
• 1 small purple onion, sliced
• 3 or 4 watermelon radishes, sliced
• 1 or 2 black Spanish radishes, sliced
• 1 large orange, segmented
• Handful of micro-greens
• 2 tbsp. toasted pine nuts
For the dressing, just shake all together:
• Zest and juice of the large orange above
• Additional orange juice to make 2 ounces
• 2 ounces cider vinegar
• 1 heaping teaspoon French mustard
• Pinch of saffron bloomed in 1 tbsp. hot water
• 2 tsp. native honey
• 6 oz. extra virgin olive oil
First, bloom the saffron. Add the large pinch of saffron to a small bowl of very hot water and let set while prepping everything else.
Prep the vegetables. Using a vegetable peeler, make long strips of the carrot and place them in ice water. They will soften slightly, and start to curl up. Slice the onion and place it in a bit of water as well to remove some of the bite. Slice the radishes in 1/8-inch thickness or thinner. I used a mandolin. Toast the pine nuts (or other nut) in a dry frying pan over medium high heat, keeping them moving and don’t step away. They are done when starting to brown and become fragrant.
Zest the orange, saving the zest to a canning jar or small bowl. Segment the orange to remove the inner orange flesh from the membranes. After zesting, use a sharp knife to peel down past the white pith, exposing the inner segments. With that sharp knife, cut around each segment. Place these in a separate bowl, and squeeze the rest of the orange’s carcass into the canning jar.
To the canning jar, add enough orange juice to make two ounces, then add vinegar, mustard, the bloomed saffron, honey, salt and pepper to taste, and shake it up. Add the oil and shake like crazy. Alternately, whip the ingredients together in a small bowl, but the jar method always works best and stays emulsified longer.
Blot the onion and carrots dry.
Arrange the radicchio on a large platter or in a roomy salad bowl. Decorate with the radishes and carrots, filling in with the onions, then toss the orange segments, pine nuts, and microgreens around to make it all lovely.
Serve with the dressing on the side.
Copyright 2024– or current year, The New Vintage Kitchen. Dorothy Grover-Read. Unattributed use of this material and photographs is strictly prohibited. Reposting and links may be used, provided that credit is given to The New Vintage Kitchen, with active link and direction to this original post.
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Supporter of: Slow Food Fair Trade USA Northeast Organic Farmers Association EcoWatch Let’s Save Our Planet No Kid Hungry Hunger Free Vermont Environmental Working Group World Central Kitchen Sustainable America Seed Savers Exchange Save the Children Vermont Farm to Plate
Wow, your colors are so vibrant both on your lovely salad and also the outdoor pics. Very pretty!
It’s the best time of year here Jan, although I say that about early spring as well!
Looks like you captured lots of rainbows! The salad looks delicious.
Thanks! We had a blast chasing that rainbow around!
What a beautiful salad. I love radishes and that all looks so pretty.
Thank you! The first bite with the eyes!
I absolutely adored these photographs of the area as well as the food! Thank you for the boost of color. I am preparing Ronit’s crusted salmon fillet for dinner tonight, and now I know what salad to go with it. I am on my way to the grocer now!
Her salmon dish had me drooling! You will have a most delicious supper!
I know; just got back from the store with the ingredients!
Can’t wait to see your creation!
The most beautiful salad! I miss Vermont.
Thanks Mimi! Vermont certainly misses you too!
This sale screens Fall!
It’s fall all the way here now!
That’s a beauty of a salad!
Thank you Amie! It tasted as good as it looked!
Beautiful photos! Great mix of veggies in this crunchy salad. I especially like the saffron in the dressing! 🙂
Thanks Ronit! The saffron was that little special twist that went really well with the orange.
Fall with its brilliant colors is center stage at your house, and it’s looking beautiful outside and inside on your table.
Color everywhere Judy! We’re having a glorious foliage year, how are things your way?
Radishes are delish!
They sure are! Always that wonderful crunch in a salad!
That salad is a beauty. Almost could hear the crunch. Also, wonderful picture of the rainbow with the lucky house at the end.
We were thrilled to see how those shots of the end of the rainbow came out. At times, it was the fattest, most vibrant rainbow I’ve ever seen!
Magical!
Amazing pix, D! This salad is almost too beautiful to eat!
Almost….
Thanks! She did great shooting the rainbow from the open window of a moving car!
Stunning salad and a lovely dressing to go with it!
I really adored the dressing. They were the first oranges I bought this season; they looked really tempting and were bursting with flavor!
Beautiful rainbow…and very delicious looking salad!
Thank you! We had such a blast chasing that rainbow around through the rain drops!
I haven’t noticed any winter radishes at the farmers’ market here. I’ll have to look for them this week. I raised some black radishes years ago and really enjoyed them (not sure why I haven’t raised any in recent years).
This year’s crop of the black radishes appears both bountiful and the radishes are huge!
What a lovely dish 😋
Thank you! We enjoyed both looking at it, and eating it!
The radishes look spectacular!
They never look quite real, do they? So vibrant. And really tasty as well.
Such fabulous colours in nature and your salad, just what we need before winter sets in! 😊
Yes, the last splash of colorful delights!
Such a beautiful festive dish, Dorothy. Your farmers markets are ending just as mine are set to begin (in November). Those watermelon radishes are the star attraction, in my opinion. 🍃🍉🥗
They sure are, Gail! Enjoy your lovely market, we are always on opposite seasons!
My kinda salad
Thanks Sheree! Mine too!
Your salad is a rainbow Dorothy, it is beautiful and looks delicious!
Jenna
Thank you Jenna! It was delicious, and every bite reminded me of our spectacular drive!
Great salad! I would substitute some mini tangerines (for the oranges) that are appearing in my local grocery stores.
The tangerines would be lovely, clementines as well!
Beautiful fall colors Dorothy all around thank you for sharing!
You are very welcome! Even though today it is drizzling outside, the colors are still vibrant!
I love the rainbows. Look at this rainbow salad! So beautiful! Looks delicious too! Lots of pretty colors that go crunch.
This one is certainly about the crunch!
salad looks great!
Thanks Charlie! It made everyone smile!
Wow a feast for the eyes and the belly!!!
Thank you Natasha! It was indeed both!
What a beautiful salad + your photos of the scenery around you are stunning. Such gorgeous colors, all courtesy of nature.
Thanks!
The light was so unique and vibrant that day, as it is when there’s a rainbow being cooked up!
Oh Dorothy, you did it again, snagging me with the rainbow and then creating a salad with the same colors. What a beautiful country we live in. I am always enamored with the colorful displays of the fall and so appreciate your images of the gorgeous landscape in Vermont. In California, our weather is so mild, the seasons seems to blend seamlessly into each other and we lack the vibrancy of your state. Thnking of you fondly, hugs, C
Thanks Cheryl! I am indeed fortunate to live in a place I love, and enjoy the comings and goings of our very distinct seasons. I traveled nearly the length of the state today, and felt awe during most of the ride (I won’t go on about the stupid car carrier I couldn’t get pass who was swerving all over the place…) The colors are so beautiful, and we had a sunny but cold day.
This beautiful. I love those watermelon radishes. Black radishes and daikons as well. 🤓👍🏼
They add such a vibrant punch to any recipe, don’t they? Not just the color, but the zing as well, especially those black radishes. Quite spicy.
That is the prettiest salad I have ever seen Dorothy. If we eat with our eyes this will be gone in a flash!
It disappeared rather quickly!
What a beautiful and colorful salad! Just like the rainbows 🌈 😉
Thanks Ribana! Chasing rainbows is always fun, and sometimes rewarding as well!
What a pretty, colorful salad! It seems like I saw more rainbows this summer than any other summer!
I think you are right! We were commenting on that the other day!