Hurry Up Spring Radish and Herb Dip

Oh spring. Hurry up and get here, please? We've had enough cold weather and heavy sweaters, hats and mittens.  Please bring on warmer weather, longer and sunnier days and fresh new spring produce. Pretty please? What if I give you a little nudge with a spring inspired dip. Would that help remind you to come to Boston?

This dip was inspired by a craving for lighter fare and something that reminded me of spring.  To me, radishes actually taste like spring, if that makes any sense at all. When they're fresh and young and thinly sliced, they provide a fantastic crunch and a refreshingly sweet earthy and slightly peppery note to a dish.  I also find the contrast of the radish's vibrant fuchsia colored skin against its clean white center to be a fresh and beautiful addition too. With regards to this dip, the chopped radishes provide a slightly pink tinge and their fresh flavor is heightened by some fresh lemon zest.  Adding to that, I used a bunch of fresh herbs because to me, fresh herbs signify spring, especially parsley.  Often times I find that parsley is just haphazardly sprinkled onto a dish at the end just to say that the dish is garnished.  While fresh parsley does provide a beautifully bright hue that perks up an otherwise bland looking dish, I think that the bright and almost slightly citrusy flavor of parsley is so versatile and so under appreciated at the same time.  While you could certainly use dried herbs here, I'd recommend at least using fresh, flat leaf parsley because the flavor of fresh cannot be matched by dried. (My recipe below is for fresh herbs and if you decide to go the dry herb route, just cut the measurements in half.)

What's best is just how easy this dip is to make.  From start to finish it takes about 10 minutes to make.  For best results, make a couple hours ahead or even a day in advance so that all the flavors have more time to come together.  For serving, I thought the crunch of carrots went well with this dip but you could use any fresh vegetable.  You could also hollow out a nice pumpernickel bread to make a bread bowl for this dip or you could serve it with warm slices of baguette.

Spring Radish Herb Dip


2 cups sour cream
6 radishes, cleaned and finely diced
3 TBS fresh parsley, roughly chopped
2 tsp dill, roughly chopped
2 tsp thyme, roughly chopped
2 tsp chives, roughly chopped
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all the above ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly to combine. Season to taste and adjust herb amounts to taste.  Serve with fresh, raw vegetables or sliced pieces of bread.