All hail the Hailstone radish and avocado dip!

The other day, my good friend Lisa gave me a bunch of radishes.  There were a bunch of your normal garden variety red gems, but there were also a bunch of larger white ones mixed in.  At first, I thought she had mistakenly given me some turnips.  But upon further examination (I took a big bite out of one) they were in fact radishes.  Hailstone radishes, to be exact.

They were so crunchy and sweet, I immediately fell in love.  Their radish taste is very mild...almost buttery.  Of course I told Lisa about my new favorite thing and thanked her profusely.  And being the awesome friend that she is, Lisa gave me some more!  Woohoo!

After I ate my fill, I thought hmmmm...what can I make with the rest?  I thought a dip would be nice, so I whirled up some garlic, the radishes and some cream cheese.  It was good, but not great.  It needed something.

My husband and I thought about it for a while... Hot sauce?  No.  Peppers?  No.  What?

Then it hit me like a well deserved slap in the face.  

Avocado!

Why didn't I think of that first?  I mean, avocados are my absolute favorite food in the universe.  I currently have 6 in the fridge just waiting to be devoured.  Oh no wait... make that 5.  I ate one earlier.

So I took a bit of the radish mixture and added a smashed avocado to it.  PERFECTION.

Here's the recipe:

Hailstone Radish and Avocado Dip

• 6 White Hailstone radishes or 4-5 red radishes*
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 8 oz softened cream cheese
• 2 ripe Haas avocados
• Sea salt

*Red radishes are much more potent in flavor, so you will want to add less to your dip.  You can try daikon radishes as well.

Add the garlic and radishes to your food processor bowl.  Whirl them up until they are thoroughly chopped and combined.  Add the cream cheese and whirl it until smooth.

Mash your avocados together in a large bowl.  Add the radish mixture to your avocados and stir together.  Add sea salt to taste.  Serve immediately.

I love this with tortilla chips, but I think it would also be great with toasted pita or cut up vegetables.  Try it and let me know what you think!

 PS:  I entered this recipe into a contest on the Food52 site which is a GREAT site with tons of awesome recipes.  If you would be so kind as to check it out and maybe give me some love over there, I'd be forever grateful! Here's the link: https://food52.com/recipes/29531-hailstone-radish-and-avocado-dip

Thanks!