Pickled Cucumbers and Radishes

I love pickled foods.  I feel like I have not met a vegetable that I don’t like pickled.  I’ll even take some fruits pickled.  Last weekend at the market they had some pickling cucumbers, so I thought I’d make a quick, just kind of “standard” batch.  Next week when I get more, I’ll change up the pickling recipe to play around with the ingredients to see what works better (or, not so much better.)  I picked up a few radishes, too, and thought that the radishes with some spring onions would be a good combo as well.  Now, I’ve put these all in Mason jars, and I think they will keep fine in the fridge for about a month.  But, I did not actually “can” them, as in process them in a hot water bath.  I do hope to do that, though, for some veggies, relishes,  and what have you this summer.  Botulism be damned!

Yes, I do plan on making fried pickles with those spears!

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Breakfast Salad

We have a new restaurant in town, and I’m already in love with one of their salads.  At American Harvest Eatery, they try to source most of their products locally, and their theme is kind  of an upscale comfort food thing, without being stuffy.  With radishes and mixed greens being in season, and us having harvested quite a bit of each from our garden, I decided to try my hand at re-creating this salad that includes radishes, bacon, croutons, greens, a hot sauce vinaigrette, and then finished with a sunny side up egg.

My take on American Harvest's Breakfast Salad

Makes 4 small-ish salads

• 4 handfuls of mixed greens (maybe 6 cups ish?)
• 6 slices bacon, cut up
• bread, cut up into crouton-sized pieces -about 2 cups worth (Ideally day old bread that is not super soft)
• 12-15 radishes, cut in half long-ways
• green onions, sliced thin
• 4 eggs
• Hot Sauce Vinaigrette, recipe below

Cook bacon in pan on stove over medium heat, until bacon is cooked through and browned.  Drain off grease (throw grease out or save for some other use.)

Toss bread with about 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bake on sheet pan in single layer in 350 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes, shaking pan once to move around croutons, until brown and crisp.  Set aside to cool after they come out of oven

Toss radishes with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven in single layer on sheet pan for about  8-10 minutes, shaking pan once during cooking.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Just before cooking eggs, toss greens with bacon, green onions, croutons, radishes, and vinaigrette and arrange on plates.

To cook eggs, heat a non-stick pan over medium to medium high heat. I just do 2 eggs at a time.  Coat pan with some fat (reserved bacon grease from earlier if you so choose – or just spray it with some Pam cooking spray – whateves).  Once pan is thoroughly heated, gently crack egg into pan.  The idea here is to keep the egg in a somewhat nice oval so the white does not spread all over the pan and they keep a consistant size so they cook evenly and look pretty.  Season with salt and pepper and let cook, turning heat down to just a little under medium if need be.

To get egg white cooked without over-cooking the yolk, add about 1-2 teaspoons of water per egg to the pan after egg has cooked for about 2 minutes and then cover with a lid for about 2 minutes.  Remove lid and let cook about another 30 seconds to one minute, and egg should be good to go at this point and can be placed on top of salad.

Radishes from our garden.

Hot Sauce Vinaigrette

• 1 tablespoon sriacha
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• about1/3 cup vegetable oil

Whisk sriacha, mustard, vinegar, and honey together in a bowl.  Slowly whisk in vegetable oil until mixture is emulsified. (I use veggie oil here instead of olive oil because I feel like the olive flavor is too pungent for this.)  Season with salt and pepper.