After seeing most of May in cooler temperatures and sporadic downpours, it feels like New York has been suddenly thrown into the middle of summer. It's been in the high 80s and low 90s for the past few days, and even hotter in my apartment. I'm refilling the ice cube trays about 5 times a day. I fantasize about seeing some blockbuster in the theater just to spend 2 hours in a cool room. I'm trying to hold off on turning on the AC for as long as possible, but it's likely my resolve will break soon.

A few days ago I had bought a bunch of asparagus and radishes, fully intent on roasting them for a nice spring side dish. But it was way too hot to turn on the oven. Instead, I decided to do something similar to a Japanese dish of blanched green beans with sesame-miso dressing.  The asparagus was easy enough, since you just blanch it for 2 minutes or less. As for the radishes, I'm used to eating them raw, but sautéing them on the stove with butter for a mere 5 minutes gives them a nice tenderness without being overly softened.

For the dressing, I just mixed some red miso paste with mirin and sugar and heated the dressing up just until thickened. (You can also use sake and add about 1/2 teaspoon more sugar to match for the sweetness in the mirin.) The total time in front of the stove was about 10 minutes. So if it's already super hot where you live, and you're still trying to hold on to spring and want a new way to cook asparagus and radishes, try out this recipe and let me know how it goes!