Radishes star in Chef Wes’ roasted beet and chicken salad recipe

Each month this June through September, an Endeavor Health top chef will create an original recipe starring one healthy veggie harvested in our gardens. Not going to one of our cafeterias? You can make these farm-fresh dishes in your own kitchen, too!

For our inaugural recipe, we asked Chef Wes Lieberher, system executive chef at Endeavor Health, to create an original salad for this Garden to Café series.

Chef Wes is a veteran of the culinary world, and has been featured on several cooking shows, including Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network, which featured his work at Beer Belly, a restaurant he helped open in Los Angeles. He appeared on Superchef Grudge Match on Food Network and ABC’s The Taste.

“I love radishes, but not a lot of people do,” Chef Wes said. “People don’t like them because they’re so earthy. The biggest mistake with radishes is people cut them too thick. I think radishes are so much better when they’re thin sliced. And I always marinate radishes. It’s nice to have a little sweetness there.”

This sweet preparation is put to delicious use in Lieberher’s original recipe for our healthy series: Marinated Radish, Roasted Beet & Chicken Salad. The dish is on the menu in Endeavor Health hospital cafés every Thursday throughout June this summer.

The history and benefits of the radish

The bright red radishes you see in the grocery store are not only packed with nutritional benefits, they’re a result of thousands of years of cultivation.

Radishes have ancient roots, with evidence suggesting they were grown in Egypt as early as 2700 BC. They were so valuable in ancient Greece, historians say people offered gold replicas of radishes to the god Apollo. The root vegetable has been grown in North America since the 1500s and are believed to have been cultivated in Massachusetts in the 1620s.

What are radishes? A cruciferous vegetable with variety

Radishes are members of the Brassicaceae family, or the cruciferous family, and are closely related to kale, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips and horseradish.

There are more than 100 varieties of radishes, ranging in shape, size and color from white, pink and red to purple, green and black.

The black radish, elongated and dark, doesn’t look much like its plump, red grocery store relative, the cherry belle, a common variety with a peppery, mildly spicy white flesh.

Radish health benefits and nutrition

“Radishes are versatile, nutrient-dense foods that you can grow in your garden with harvests in as little as 3 to 5 weeks after planting the seed,” said Wes Murphy, MS, RDN, LDN, director of clinical nutrition at Endeavor Health.

Radishes also provide several nutritional benefits, explains Murphy:

1. Radishes are weight-friendly: just 20 calories per cup.
2. Radishes offer 2 grams of fiber and a quarter of your daily vitamin C needs per cup.
3. Radishes are a source of powerful antioxidant compounds called anthocyanins, linked to positive effects on cardiovascular health.

No wonder radishes are growing in vegetable gardens at several Endeavor Health hospitals, including Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital, which is used in nutrition classes and tended by community members.

Radishes are more versatile than many people think, and are delicious sautéed, roasted and pickled. Even its top greens are edible. Try them tossed into soup, added to salad or chopped into pesto.

How to grow and shop for radishes

If you want to harvest your own radishes, plant them in early spring — and expect them to come up quickly. Radishes grown from seed can take up to 60 days to mature, but the cherry belle radishes commonly found in grocery stores can be ready to harvest as soon as 22 days.

When shopping for this crunchy crucifer, look for firm veggies with no brown spots or softness. They’re often sold with greens still attached, so look for healthy-looking leaves. Store them dry in your refrigerator crisper drawer.

Ready to get eating — or cooking? Try Chef Wes’ Marinated Radish, Roasted Beet & Chicken Salad if you’re in an Endeavor Health hospital café during the month of June. Or make his original recipe yourself at home. Below you’ll find his step-by-step instructions on how to make this dish, which includes thin-sliced radishes in a salad bowl with beets, grilled chicken and creamy goat cheese.

“There are so many different ingredients that complement each other, and every single thing in that dish offers you some health benefit,” Chef Wes said.

Find more healthy, garden-fresh recipes to make at home.

Marinated Radish, Roasted Beet & Chicken Salad 

Yield: 10 portions
Serving size: 1 entrée salad

Ingredients:
10 oz marinated radish, sliced thin
3 ½ lbs chicken breast, boneless, skinless
2 lbs red beets, roasted, peeled, diced (canned also ok)
1 lb strawberries, fresh, hulled and sliced
10 cups spring mix or baby spinach
8 oz goat cheese, crumbled
2 oz sunflower seeds
16 oz balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:

1. Combine chicken marinade ingredients (recipe below) and coat chicken breasts evenly. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Grill chicken to 165°F internal. Rest and slice.
3. Roast beets at 400°F covered in foil, until tender, about 1 hour. Cool, peel and dice.
4. Prepare marinated radish (recipe below).
5. Set out a bed of greens on each plate. Top with grilled chicken, roasted beets, sliced strawberries, marinated radish, crumbled goat cheese, and sunflower seeds. Add

Chicken Marinade

Ingredients:
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Whisk together marinade ingredients.
2. Coat chicken evenly and marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Marinated Radish

Ingredients:
10 oz radishes, shaved thin
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Toss shaved radish with vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper.
2. Let sit 20 minutes before serving.