Hot Honey Roasted Radishes and Hummus

A vegetarian starter or small plate using peppery roasted radishes, tossed in a hot honey dressing, supported by creamy hummus, topped with diced apples and botanicals like lemon balm and rose.

Almost every time, my favorite dishes at a restaurant are the small plates. It’s just enough of an item that has high-impact flavor and texture (not an amuse bouche, not an entree) without feeling overwhelming. For about a decade in american dining, hummus became a constant starter or small plate option…albeit mediocre, thin hummus served with carrots and celery and maybe a cucumber if you were lucky. In this case, hummus is a hearty, creamy base to balance the intensity of spring radishes which can read very peppery “spicy”. For texture and brightness, pink lady apples are diced and sprinkled with dried rose (a nice complement to radishes) and lemon balm.

The hummus

The recipe for making this hummus requires spending probably five minutes of removing the skins from the chickpeas. If you’re going to bother making hummus, you’ve got to do this step. It’s the only way to make it truly smooth before it goes into the food processor. I say this as someone who never did this step prior to this year. Can you buy hummus? Absolutely. Either buy it, or spend the time removing the skins. Just don’t do the middle of the road method.

Pink Lady Apples

This seems incredibly specific, but at the end of the day what we are looking for is a sweet-tart apple that’s high acid and crisp. An alternative would be a Fuji apple.

Lemon Balm

It’s a beautiful, bright plant that adds the taste of lemon without the acid. An easy substitute is lemon zest or just an extra squeeze of lemon. As an aside, I highly recommend growing lemon balm for fragrant additions to bouquets and to make into tea.

What kind of radishes should I use?

Whatever your market has! They can be multi-colored, or standard pink. I would avoid breakfast radishes, since they tend to be slightly more expensive, and are just not needed for this methodology. Most importantly, I’d look for smaller radishes and make sure to clean them well to remove any dirt.

The radishes can be roasted ahead of time and reheated then tossed in dressing for service.

Hot Honey Roasted Radishes and Hummus

INGREDIENTS

Hummus-Makes about 2 cups

15.5-oz. can chickpeas

1.5 large lemons juiced

garlic clove

1/3 cup tahini, well mixed

1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt

¼ tsp. ground cumin

4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Toppings and Dressing

1.5 -2 bunches of small radishes

1.5 Tablespoons olive oil (reserve 1/2 Tablespoon for dressing)

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons finely minced shallot

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic

1 teaspoon honey

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon grated parmesean cheese

1/3 cup diced pink lady apple (or similar)

fresh Lemon balm garnish

1 teaspoon dried rose petals

flaky sea salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Drain and rinse chickpeas. Remove any loose skins by rubbing them through your hands.

2. Add chickpeas, lemon, garlic, tahini and salt to a food processor. Pulse until smooth.

3. With the motor running, pour in the olive oil and continue processing until smooth. Stop. if needed and scrape the sides with a rubber spatula. Store hummus in fridge if not serving immediately.

4. Preheat oven to 425 F.

5. Wash and trim radishes to remove greens and tails. Depending on the size, cut radishes into halves or quarters. Toss in olive oil and place on a rimmed pan. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until radishes can be pierced with a fork and have browned a little.

6. To make dressing, use an immersion blender or whisk together, reserved olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, minced garlic and shallot, honey, red pepper flakes, and parmesean.

7. Toss radishes and apple in dressing once out of the oven.

8. Plate radishes on top of hummus. Garnish with lemon balm, dried rose, and flaky salt.

9. Serve plain with utensils or with a toasted sourdough bread.