Summer Idea #3: Quick-Pickled Radishes

Okay, I'll fess up. The real reason I wanted to buy radishes? Everyone was taking photos of them on instagram, and I got jealous!

They are so pretty. (Look: I even made you some radish art! Haha.)

But in truth, I don't even really like radishes all that much... unless they're pickled. Quick-pickled, just like the quick-pickled cucumbers I posted about a few days ago.

Pickling removes that astringent bite that some radishes have, and adds a nice flavor! True, the glorious pink colour becomes a little less pronounced, but they are still beautiful, and in my opinion, infinitely more delicious.

As the weather has cooled down a bit this weekend, I think this will be the last of the "summer idea" posts for a little while (although next week is looking to be very hot again) but don't worry! I made some delicious blueberry muffins yesterday, and luckily I took photos before they all got devoured!

Onto the radishes!

INGREDIENTS

- small radishes
- dark rice vinegar
- sesame oil
- pinch of sugar
- pinch of salt
- optional: Korean spice (red pepper powder)

Wash and slice up the radishes into halves or quarter-pieces. Don't cut them too small, otherwise they might get soggy depending on how long you choose to let them pickle. (Also, the larger pieces are prettier, in my opinion.)

Place the pieces of radishes in a bowl and add salt. (I'd say that this is about 1 tsp.)

Cover the salted radishes with a plate and place a cup or heavy object on top, to help drain the radishes of excess water. Let it sit for at least half an hour.

Add in the dark rice vinegar (again, I have to approximate since I didn't measure out the amounts, but I'd start with 1 tsp and taste before adjusting), followed by some sesame oil (approx. 1 tsp).

Add in some sugar. These can take more sugar than the cucumbers did, so maybe 1 to 1½ tsp sugar.

Sprinkle in some Korean red pepper flakes, if you so choose. This particular spice powder isn't too spicy and it has a nice depth to it that balances out the sharpness of the radishes. (I swear I'm not trying to be pretentious, but that's the only way I can think of describing it!)

Taste, and add more rice vinegar or sugar if desired.

Let the radishes marinate for at least half an hour, although my mom has let them sit overnight in the fridge in the past, and they were very delicious. But if you're impatient like me, somewhere between half an hour and 1 hour should suffice.

Voila! Quick-pickled radishes!

Summer Idea #2: Quick-Pickled Cucumbers

"I have a cucumber craving," I announced to my mom, completely out of the blue.

[...]

If you were expecting a story to come out of that first sentence, don't get your hopes up.

Basically, I got the cucumbers.

And I ate them.

What you will get, however, is a quick, no-cook recipe for pickled cucumbers! It's not the same kind of pickling in the sense that pregnant moms will crave these with vanilla ice cream, but it's pretty darn tasty, especially on a hot summer day.

(It's so hot that I can actually feel the hairs on my arm dry up immediately after stepping out from the shower. At least that means that it's not too humid today.)

I should warn you beforehand though: I forgot to measure out the ingredients when I was making this, since it's my mom's 'recipe' and she never uses instructions. Alas, I will try my best to approximate the amounts, but it's pretty easy to just make these cucumbers to taste.

INGREDIENTS
-1 English cucumber
-dark rice vinegar
-sesame oil *
-salt, to taste
-pinch of sugar

*I used spicy sesame oil, but it ended up being too spicy, even though I've been building up a spice (rather than alcohol) tolerance my whole life.

Slice the cucumber in half, length-wise, and then cut each half into small half-moons, slicing at a diagonal angle (although honestly, that's optional. It's just how my parents always do it, so I did that as well).

Place all the cucumber slices into a large bowl, and add salt. (I'm guessing that this is about a ½ tsp? Maybe ¾ tsp?)

Cover the cucumbers with a plate and place a weight (aka cup) on top of the plate, so that some excess water will drain out of the cucumbers. This will give them a nice crunch. Let the cucumbers drain for at least 30 minutes.

Then, uncover the cucumbers and add in the dark rice vinegar. Don't add too much at a time, and be careful when pouring, since I know that I tend to have the bad luck of seeing the liquid all pour out at once. I estimate that I used approximately 1 tsp, or slightly more, but finish adding in the rest of the ingredients before adding in more vinegar.

Then add in some sesame oil (approximately 1 tsp). Give it all a shake. ;)

Add in a pinch of sugar, and perhaps a bit more if the cucumbers taste too vinegar-y. Mix, and taste. (Add more dark rice vinegar or sugar if necessary.)

Eat! To beat the heat! (Sorry- couldn't resist the rhyming there.) In any case, hope you enjoy!

Banana Applesauce Muffins

These muffins want to make love to my camera.

Okay, maybe that's a little hyperbolic, but come on. There are very few things in the world that are more photogenic than a freshly baked muffin.

I lied. A dozen fresh muffins are even better.

In other news, I was really trying to play it cool and not be overeager, but here I am, posting on a third consecutive day. It's just that there are so many exciting things to make! And many things to eat! (I already have a small backlog of photos to post... yes, I've got it bad. Bitten by the baking bug. I haven't even gotten the chance to try out my new mini madeleine pan yet!)

But these banana muffins were calling out to me. I've had this recipe sitting on my phone for days now, just staring cruelly at me, daring me to neglect it. Of course I succumbed. I didn't even stand a chance.

I couldn't even wait long enough for the bananas to ripen properly, which made it just that tiny bit more difficult to mash them, but the little chunks of banana in the end were a pleasant surprise, so I say: Give into temptation!

(And believe me, temptation was never so healthy. These have no oil, and no fat, and I even adapted the recipe to cut down on sugar! The original recipe says that each muffin contains 116 calories, no fat. Any snack under 250 calories sounds like a healthy snack to me! :D Means I can nab a second one when I finish typing this up...)

INGREDIENTS
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup mashed banana *
- 1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce

* approx. 2 ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and either line your muffin tin(s) or lightly coat with non-stick cooking spray. I used two 6-cup muffin tins.

Combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt) in a large bowl and mix well.

Mash up your bananas.

These muffins don't even need oil to be delicious! (Just some applesauce.) I used Cinnamon Applesauce, but any kind should be fine!

In an even larger mixing bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients (eggs, mashed banana, applesauce).

Add in your dry ingredients, one cup at a time, and mix well.

Pour the batter into your muffin tin(s).

(Make sure to not overfill them. Two-thirds full is a good amount, generally.)

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. I baked them for 17 minutes and they turned out perfectly!

Let cool, and admire these beauties.

Breakfast is all set for tomorrow! Hope you like these as much as I do.