From the outside, watermelon radishes don't look like much (unless you find a farmer's market variety like we have here!) —they often resemble parsnips, and are fairly bland and lackluster. But grab a knife, slice one of these babies up, and marvel at a cosmic array of live-giving color they contain! Sakara loves (loves loves loves) watermelon radishes. We put them in our Toasted Cashew Medley Salad, atop our Beet Smash Toast, and scattered as a garnish throughout many more. Watermelon Radishes (and, all radishes in general) are some of the Earth's most skin-healing foods. We'll take a cup, or two, please.
But, we weren't the first ones use these so abundantly. Egyptians were cultivating radishes before the great pyramids were even built. The Greeks and the Romans prepared them with honey and vinegar. Radishes have similarly been cultivated in England, Germany, Mexico, and Puerto Rico since the early 1500s as a delicious internal treatment for kidney stones, skin issues, and intestinal worms.
All of this is thanks to their super high Vitamin C content, which helps to rebuild tissues and blood vessels, as well as fight off seasonal sickness, allergies, disease, and inflammation. Radishes are also super packed with folate, good fiber, potassium, riboflavin, copper, vitamin B6, magnesium, manganese, and calcium.
Here, we've done as the Romans do, and pickled our Watermelon Radishes in vinegar and honey, for some gut-healing probiotics. Enjoy!
Pickled Watermelon Radishes
Ingredients: Yields 1 cup
- 4 small bulbs of watermelon radish, rinsed + thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup Bragg's apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons raw honey
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup organic brown rice vinegar
Directions: Rinse, wash, and thinly slice the radishes (or use a mandolin for more precision). In a small saucepan, add all the liquids and bring it to a boil. Place sliced radishes in the pan, cover, and turn off the fire. Let it cool completely, and then store it in a container or mason jar in the fridge for up to two months.
