Day 22: roasting a radish

A few revelations make themselves known to me as I write today’s entry. Firstly, Cook Eat Repeat has been out for nearly two months now and yet this is the first time I’m cooking from it for 365 Days of Nigella. Secondly, I’ve never had bulgur wheat, and thirdly, it has been five years since I heard about the notion of roasting radishes; when Simply Nigella first aired on the BBC. The latter here is less a revelation, but more a frightening realisation of how fast time has passed and the fact that we have moved up and down the country three times and lived in four different houses since.

So today was the day: I finally roasted radishes. Now, this may not seem a big deal to some of you, but for someone who has brought a packet of radishes at least once a month for the past five years, with the sole purpose of roasting them and then never remembering to do so, this is quite the monumental event. The recipe which has finally coaxed me into roasting radishes is Nigella’s Spiced Bulgur Wheat with Roast Vegetables; so I ventured to the shops for these ingredients only, to be sure that I actually followed through with my radish roasting. 

Nigella’s Spiced Bulgur Wheat with Roast Vegetables

There was scepticism from my husband as to whether he would like a roast radish; he wasn’t particularly enthusiastic at the thought of it and he certainly didn’t share my anticipated excitement. Nigella, if you read this; my smugness was gratifyingly sufficient for us both when he tasted one, and did in fact - as I knew he would - love it. What an exciting new way to eat radishes! I should imagine when they’re in season, and pack an ever bigger peppery punch, they would offer even more bite. They look so pretty too. Like mini turnips!

Nigella isn’t wrong, this dish offers bright comfort for the darkest of days and is relaxingly straightforward to make. It gave us just the right kind of spritely spice and vibrant aesthetic appeal that we needed to battle back the Monday blues. I will have no issue making double portions to keep in the fridge to revert to for midday snacks and, for me, a sharp tangy dressing added to a cold bowl of this would be a welcomed lunch.

Flavour musings (and a small detour).

I would consider my spice rack - which in fact overflows into the spice cupboard - to be generously stocked, but I did not have any coriander seeds. Coriander is a herb I really do detest. A strong word I know, but if you’ll give me a minute to digress, I will explain why. I don’t recall ever having an issue with coriander when I was younger. When I was eighteen, my school offered an optional trip to go travelling around some parts of India and my Mum, wanting me to experience the world’s wonders, ushered me along and signed the form (I was in my final year of Sixth Form and a parental signature was still required). My feelings, pre-trip, were perhaps not as grateful and enthusiastic as one would expect; my ‘everyday’ friends were not going and it clashed with the Easter holidays. Insignificant factors now I know, but world-ending to an eighteen-year-old me. In summary, the trip was one I will never forget. However, I did not return unscathed and I missed the first week back at school because of tummy issues, and shortly after my return to school - was hospitalised with mumps. The long and short of this story is that fresh coriander swamped everything and anything I ate when I was travelling in India and, considering how unwell I became on my return, it just put off. By the way, I do know that it wasn’t coriander that made me ill.

Anyway, I bought a whole fresh bunch (and seeds) for this spiced bulgur wheat, used what I needed to and then put the remainder of the bunch into a homemade curry (that we served alongside). Now I don’t know what happened here, or when, but I seem to like coriander now. So there’s another food I’ve avoided for so long, and now appear to like.

The exotic spices and the sweet freshness of orange elevate this dish far above its already lavish aesthetic appeal and create something that is both nutritious and mouth-wateringly gorgeous. To boot, I now have coriander seeds to add to my culinary adventures and a kind reminder to use more fennel seeds in my cooking.