I love going on road-trips. Especially on gorgeously sunny days with the windows down and dear friends beside me.

One of my favorite road-trips of all time was through Albania. It was a wild, crazy adventure of unreadable maps, wrong turns, and roads that were little more than gigantic potholes strung together.

I loved it.

I got one of the window seats and happily leaned out of it for hours, capturing the people, animals, and landscape of this incredible country.

sheep farmers in Albania

I was amazed by the ruggedly beautiful mountains ridged by rocky outcroppings and covered in wildflowers.

Best of all were the shepherds leading long trains of sheep along narrow trails. We watched them wend their way down the mountain, not one sheep toppling off.

Other shepherds sat out front of their makeshift tents, chatting amiably in the sunshine as their cattle nibbled grass nearby.

Albanian shepherds

Such a wildly beautiful place.

 

Albanian mountains

As we climbed higher and higher I looked back into the valley, in awe of the mountain towering up behind us, its distinctive features disappearing in a haze of blues and greens.

mountains in Albania

I smiled as we rounded another bend, this time spotting a man leading a train of heavily-laden mules. I wondered where they were going. Where they came from. What was in those bags.

mule train in Albania

I also wondered what they were eating as they stopped for their midday break. Bread? Cheese? Homemade brew?

Reminiscing about these shepherds made me crave simple fare. Farm food. So today we’re eating oven-roasted radishes.

My dear friend Robin made them for me when I visited her recently. I don’t usually care for radishes with their peppery heat and almost aluminum after taste. But now I crave them.

Somehow roasting mellows the radishes, taking away their distinctive bite. And roasting the leaves is pure genius. They turn into light, crispy, salty bits of loveliness. I made two pans of these and Bear and I ate them clean in one day. They’re that good.

how to roast radishes

What is the best road trip you’ve ever taken?

Oven-Roasted Radishes

Ingredients:

1 bunch radishes with greens, washed and dried
olive oil
salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Grease baking sheet with olive oil.
  3. Separate radishes and cut in half. Place on baking sheet cut side down.
  4. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
  5. Roast 20-30 minutes until greens are crispy and radishes are golden brown on cut side.