Watermelon radish wins the most beautiful vegetable award.

I was surprised and delighted with a bunch of these in my weekly organic vegetable box, as I don’t see them often in Australia.

I drew inspiration for this recipe from Alison Roman, who is known for her love of watermelon radishes and for adding anchovies to herb dressings (or at least I know her for those things). To create this fantastic radish salad, I combined her ideas with my recipe for marinated zucchini ribbons.

This would be delicious served with lamb (this is front of mind as I slow-cooked a lamb shoulder last night) or some grilled white fish. The natural bitterness and bite of the radish is beautifully balanced with this rich, savoury and salty dressing, making the perfect side dish, especially if you find yourself with a bunch of large radishes.

If you do have a bunch of radish, chop the leaves off before storing them in the fridge, and leaving them connected to the leaves draws moisture out of the radish (this is the root after all!).

I honestly think that the people who kick up a stink about anchovies are super childish in their eating habits. It reminds me of my five year old step son who picks the basil of his margarita pizza – sadly I know adults who do this too! If you are one of those people who thinks you don’t like anchovies, just as I tell my bonus son, you never know until you try and you may like it.

If you love this, check out my Scarlet Turnip, Fennel and Apple Slaw. It’s like this recipe, but a touch less rich.