This Thermomix® radish salad takes just 10 minutes and makes 4 servings (about 90 kcal per serving). 500 g of white radish, 1 bunch of radishes and 1 cucumber are pre-salted with 2 tsp of salt (this draws out water and tames the heat), then combined with a yoghurt and apple cider vinegar dressing in just 8 seconds. The salting step is the key: skip it and the salad turns watery, too sharp and soggy.
We serve this salad as a snack, as a side dish with hearty mains (roast pork, meat loaf, burgers) or as a light summer lunch. In the Bavarian tradition it is served as part of a cold spread with pretzels and Obatzda. As a fitness side dish it has only 90 kcal per serving and is rich in glucosinolates, which are good for digestion.
Radish Salad with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 9 ✓
- 500 g white radish (mooli)
- 1 bunch radishes
- 1 cucumber
- 1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tsp salt
- 50 g natural yoghurt (3.5% fat)
- 40 g apple cider vinegar
- 40 g rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions 0 / 2
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1
Prepare the vegetables.
Peel the radish and cut into pieces. Wash the radishes and remove the stalks. Wash the cucumber and cut into pieces. Wash the parsley, shake dry and pluck off the leaves. Place the radish, radishes, cucumber and parsley in the mixing bowl together with the salt and chop for 5 sec / speed 5, using the spatula to assist. Transfer the vegetables to a sieve and leave to drain.
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2
Mix the ingredients.
Add all the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix for 8 sec / reverse direction / speed 4.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Which radish to use: white, black, beer or daikon
White radish (standard): mild to medium heat, available in supermarkets all year round. Ideal for beginners. Crisp with a slightly sweet note.
Beer radish (Bavarian speciality): very mild, thick and short, found mainly in spring and summer at Bavarian markets. A truly traditional Bavarian cold-platter recipe calls for this variety.
Black radish: sharp to very sharp, a winter vegetable (October to March). A renowned medicinal plant. If you enjoy the heat, go for it. For beginners, mix half and half with white radish to reduce the sharpness.
Daikon (Japanese radish): very mild, long and slim, sold in Asian supermarkets and increasingly in mainstream shops. Low heat, high water content, great for beginners.
The salt trick: why you should leave it for 30 minutes
Radish contains glucosinolates, which react with water to form pungent allyl isothiocyanate. Add to that a water content of over 90 per cent. If you slice the radish and put it straight into the salad, two things happen: the salad becomes watery within 30 minutes (osmosis) and the sharpness overpowers everything else.
The solution: after slicing, mix the radish with 2 tsp of salt, leave for 30 minutes, then drain or squeeze out. The salt draws out the water by osmotic pressure, and a large proportion of the glucosinolates leave with it. The result is a crisp salad with no excess liquid and a gentler heat.
Short on time: the recipe works without salting too, but eat the salad straight away rather than letting it sit. With salting the salad keeps for 1 to 2 days in the fridge.
Reverse direction at speed 4: why not normal direction
The Thermomix® has a reverse direction mode in which the blades turn with the blunt edge leading. Instead of cutting, they push the ingredients around. This is ideal for dressing a salad: the vegetables are coated evenly without being chopped further.
At normal speed 4 the radish would be reduced to a mush in 8 seconds. In reverse direction the strips stay intact and the dressing reaches every piece. Important: press the reverse direction symbol (left arrow) on the touchscreen before starting.
Radish salad with cream, apple or a vinaigrette
Cream variation (Bavarian classic): replace the yoghurt with 50 g of double cream or 50 g of soured cream. Richer, heartier and more traditional. The standard version at Bavarian beer gardens.
Apple variation: add 1 tart apple (such as Boskoop or Bramley), mix in together. The sweet-sour note balances the radish heat. Works especially well with black radish.
Vinaigrette variation (vegan, light): leave out the yoghurt and use 50 g of apple cider vinegar and 50 g of rapeseed oil, plus 1 tsp of honey or maple syrup. Lets the radish flavour shine through on its own.
With bacon (hearty): fry 50 g of diced bacon until crisp and scatter over just before serving. Turns the salad into a full meal.
With chives: use 1 bunch of chives, snipped into rings, instead of parsley. The classic cold-platter version, and milder in flavour.
What to serve with radish salad
Classic as part of a cold spread with pretzels, butter, Obatzda and pork sausage. As a side dish with roast pork and dumplings, meat loaf, burgers or patties. As a light starter before a hearty main. As a lunch salad to take away in a bento box.
In spring and summer it goes perfectly with a barbecue. In winter, made with black radish, it acts as a vitamin C boost (one serving covers about 30 per cent of the daily requirement).
Radish salad keeps for 1 to 2 days in the fridge
Made with pre-salted radish, the finished salad keeps in a sealed container for 1 to 2 days in the fridge. Without salting, eat it straight away, as it turns watery within 2 hours. Freezing does not work: radish becomes spongy and translucent after thawing.
For advance prep the day before a gathering: store the radish, radishes and cucumber separately in the fridge and add the dressing only just before serving. This keeps everything crisp.
Also goes well with: schnitzel and grilled bread.
