This recipe is inspired by the farmer market in spring, when the first radishes and raabs hit. It’s always amazing to see raabs—bouquets of greens that have overwintered and are sending up flowers to become seeds for the next season. Broccoli raab is the most famous of the raab, but we are also crazy for arugula, cabbage, collard, and kale raabs. And the best way we’ve found to cook them is to blanch them in boiling water, which happens to be exactly how you cook noodles! So we cook them together for a really easy dinner hack. The radishes give us all that pretty pinkness. And to complement all that pious spring vegetable matter, we love a hearty meatball. I like to cook these meatballs kinda small so you can eat them in one bite! It all works well together, the tender, the sour, and the richness! You can also make this wonderful meal in fall, when the hearty greens are sweet from the frosts and the radishes keep on coming!
Makes 2 servings | Active time: 30 minutes | Difficulty: Easy
Meatballs
2 teaspoons sugar
1 pound ground pork
4 green onion stalked, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) panko bread crumbs
1/2 bunch radishes
Pinch sugar
Approximately 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 bunch raab or other hearty greens
1 package Umi Organic Noodles with Miso Sesame Sauce
Optional: Chili oil
Directions
Start heating a large pot of water over high heat. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Add all the meatball ingredients to a bowl and mix gently until well combined. Form into 1-1/2 inch balls and set on a baking sheet. I like to use parchment. When the oven is heated, bake for 25 minutes.
Remove the leaves from the red radishes and slice as thinly as you can with a knife or a mandolin (be careful!) Toss in a bowl with a heavy pinch of salt and a very light pinch of sugar. Pour in just enough rice vinegar to barely cover and set aside. Quick pickles can — and should — be made several hours and up to two days in advance. The red of the radish skin with turn the entire pickle a beautiful hot pink if left to sit a few hours. Eat within 5 days.
Cut the browned stems off the bottom of the raab. Check the raab for woodiness. If the raab are too old, a white dot will appear in the center of the stem. Keep cutting the stems higher until that dot (which represents the woody center) is gone. Discard the woody stems.
Tease apart the noodles. Drop the raab into the boiling water. One minute later, drop the noodles into the boiling water. Start a timer for 2 minutes. Stir occasionally to loosen the noodles. When the timer rings, drain the noodles and raab in the colander and rinse under cold running water briefly. Shake out the water thoroughly.
Add noodles and raab to a bowl and toss with Miso Sesame Sauce. Put half in another bowl. Top each bowl with the toppings. Enjoy!
