Trifecta of Garden Greens

Last Saturday, I woke up a little before 8 a.m. and the first thing that came to my mind was that the local farmers’ markets were now open for business. It had been a long winter and spring of having to go to the supermarket for my “fresh” produce and I started to get excited as I visualized a kaleidoscope of locally grown vegetables – bright orange carrots, leafy green lettuces, ruby red beets, and crimson radishes. I looked over at my husband, Bob, who was still asleep. That is, he was asleep until I poked him a couple times and repeatedly asked, “Are you awake?” He finally stirred and, before he was totally alert and able to think clearly, I convinced him to come with me to the Pleasantville Farmers’ Market, throwing in an enticing incentive of getting breakfast afterward at the adjacent diner.

We parked in Pleasantville’s train station lot and headed down to the long row of tented stalls lining the sidewalk by the platform. At 8:30 in the morning, the place was already hopping! From young parents pushing their babies in strollers to elderly couples lugging their eco-friendly cloth grocery bags, it was all so healthy and wholesome. (With our matching hangovers from the night before, I wasn’t sure if Bob and I belonged in this picture.)

My attention was drawn to the long line of customers forming behind the Bobolink Dairy stall – and proprietors Nina and Jonathan White hadn’t even finished unloading their van full of artisanal cheeses and wood-fired breads. I got at the end of the queue for my weekly requirement of cave-aged cheddar cheese and crusty cranberry walnut bread, while Bob walked over to the Pickle Licious booth to buy our allotment of sour dills.

Finished with our initial purchases, we passed by the fresh fish and organic meat vendors and the stalls full of homemade quiches, soups and pies, then headed over to one of the larger produce stands, stacked with overflowing bins of lettuces, radishes, beets, cherries and strawberries.

Donning my alter ego of the Inspired Chef, I decided that it was the perfect time to experiment with some seasonal produce. I picked out several leafy heads of bok choy and tatsoi for a recipe of sautéed Asian greens that I wanted to try out, plus a bag of sugar snap peas for another dish, and a handful of scapes for a third.

Now you might be saying, “Back up! What are scapes?” I only know the answer because I read the Dining In section of The New York Times on Wednesday, June 18. In case you missed it, the writer Melissa Clark described scapes as being “pencil thin and exuberantly loopy” with a “tightly closed but bulging bud” at the top of each stem. According to Clark, scapes are the flower shoot of the garlic bulb and are cut off by farmers to encourage bulbs to grow bigger. Happily, scapes made their way to the market when growers realized they could make money from something they had been throwing away.

The curvy form and vivid green color of scapes reminded me of thin garden snakes. Picking up a handful in the stall, I immediately detected a mild, garlicky scent and got excited about the opportunity to use them in a recipe for “White Bean and Garlic Scapes Dip” that I had saved from the Times article.

That evening, burned out from an afternoon of graduation parties (my older son, Sam, just finished high school), Bob and I decided to stay home and have a quiet evening. I decided it would be a perfect time to test the dip. Heading to the refrigerator, I pulled out the bag of scapes. After rinsing them in the sink and chopping them coarsely, I threw the scapes into the food processor with some freshly squeezed lemon juice, a can of drained cannellini beans, some sea salt and ground pepper. After creating a rough puree, I got out my trustee EVOO (extra virgin olive oil, thank you Rachael Ray!) and drizzled it through the top of the processor until the dip was smooth (a couple tablespoons of water was also needed).

Wanting to test the recipe, I pulled out a box of Wheat Thins from our snack drawer and grabbed a cracker to scoop the dip. It had a wonderful garden-fresh taste and a mildly spicy kick, but lacked a little something in the flavor department. I decided to add a pinch of ground Cayenne red pepper and ¼ teaspoon ground cumin. Another sampling proved the two additions were good choices, bringing a little extra bite to the picture. I spooned the dip into a serving bowl and brought it out to our deck to serve with some more of the crackers and a bottle of Malbec wine. Good food, good wine, beautiful sunset – what more could you ask for? (Oh, maybe I’d like a housekeeper 24/7 to clean up the chronic mess in my sink!)

Feeling that healthy vibe, I decided to continue with my garden green experiments. Next in line were the sugar snap peas, which I decided to use in a recipe I found in The Barefoot Contessa cookbook. After a little online research, the only change I made was to steam the snap peas instead of blanching them because I read that would keep them crisp.

At this point, I want to give you a heads up. If you want to serve snap peas, you have to be willing to do some prep work. It will take you a good ten minutes to remove the stem from each of the pods along with the string that runs along the top of the snap pea. However, the sweet, fresh taste should be enough reward for a bit of grunt work.

After I steamed the snap peas for several minutes, I put them in a bowl and mixed them with sesame oil, black sesame seeds, and kosher salt to taste. Everyone, and I mean even the kids, downed them at last Sunday’s dinner, and I noticed the next day that Sam had raided the refrigerator sometime after I had gone to bed and demolished the scant leftovers.

Last but not least, I had to use my bok choy and tatsoi. Luckily for me, I had saved a recipe card from the farmers’ market for “Asian Style Greens with Sesame, Ginger and Soy Sauce.” Making this dish last Monday afternoon, the first thing I did was rinse off the vegetables’ dark green leaves because, at least in my case, they were dirty as can be, looking like they had been pulled from the earth and brought directly to the farm stand. I cut off the bottoms and threw all the leaves in my salad spinner. After they were cleaned and dried, I chopped them coarsely and set them aside in a bowl.

Tatsoi

Bok Choy

Next in line for my sous chef duties was mincing the garlic and ginger. Regarding the ginger – buy this knobby condiment fresh, peel off the outer skin and dice finely. (I’ve tried chopping it in my food processor and it did not work well.)

I heated up some olive oil in a wok and added a mixture of white and black sesame seeds. As soon as they started popping, I poured in my minced garlic and ginger and sautéed for a minute or so, while the rich, fragrant smell of the cooking greens enveloped the kitchen. For the finishing touches, I used some naturally brewed soy sauce (San-J Premium Tamari Soy Sauce is a good choice) and rice vinegar, stirring until all the ingredients were combined. Taking a taste, I knew this was going to be a winner with its perfect combination of crunchy greens and tangy flavor.

Does this all sound too healthy? Three days in a row of garden greens? Well, it did to me. The only solution was to raid the fridge and finish up that pint of Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream I had hidden away. And yes, I did add chocolate syrup and rainbow sprinkles!

White Bean and Garlic Scapes Dip
The New York Times, June 18, 2008
By Melissa Clark

1/3 cup sliced garlic scapes (3 to 4)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt, more to taste
Ground black pepper
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling

My suggested additions:
Pinch Cayenne red pepper
¼ teaspoon cumin

1. In a food processor, process garlic scapes with lemon juice, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process to a rough puree.
2. With motor running, slowly drizzle olive oil through feed tube and process until fairly smooth. Pulse in 2 or 3 tablespoons water, or more, until mixture is the consistency of a dip. Add more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, if desired. Add Cayenne red pepper and cumin (per my suggestion).
3. Spread out dip on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with more salt.

Yield: 1 ½ cups


Sugar Snap Peas with Sesame
Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

1 pound sugar snap peas
Dark sesame oil
Black sesame seeds
Kosher salt

Pick through the sugar snap peas to remove any that aren’t perfect. Remove and discard the stem end and the string from each pod. Toss the snap peas (see note below about preparing) in a bowl with sesame oil, sesame seeds, and kosher salt, to taste. Serve at room temperature.

Note: While the Barefoot Contessa cookbook recommends blanching the snap peas in boiling salted water for 5 minutes if they are too tough to eat raw, I chose to steam mine for 3 minutes and then ran them under cold water and they turned out perfectly.


Asian-Style Greens with Sesame, Ginger, and Soy Sauce
4 servings
http://www.communitymarkets.biz/

4 tablespoons sesame oil or olive oil
2 tablespoons white hulled sesame seeds
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds (optional)
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 teaspoons ginger, minced
2 pounds tender Asian greens, such as baby bok choy, watercress, tatsoi or mizuna, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons naturally brewed soy sauce
4 tablespoons rice vinegar

1. Warm the oil inn a wide heavy sauté pan or wok over medium heat. Add the sesame seeds and stir until they pop and become fragrant. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté for one more minute.
2. Add the greens and one tablespoon soy sauce, raise the heat, and cook, covered for one minute. Uncover and sauté for one to two minutes more, until the greens are tender but still bright green. Stir in more soy sauce and vinegar to taste and serve immediately.