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10 Things To Do With Garlic Scapes

By Margo on April 29, 2013 in 10 Cool Things to Do With..., Greenling DFW, Recipes, Spring

garlic scapes

“Garlic WHAT?” Get excited for one of spring’s most anticipated farm-fresh delights– garlic scapes! Scapes are the wild shoots that spring from the tops of garlic plants. Their color is springtime green, and the shoots can be thick or thin, curved or corkscrewed, and vary in height. They also come with leaves, which are more similar to leeks or green onion, and are also edible! Garlic scapes have a mild garlic fragrance and a mellow garlic flavor. The scapes are meant to be cut from growing garlic in order to help the garlic grow. So it’s a win-win for the farmer and us, the cooks!

Here at Greenling DFW, our garlic scapes come to us from Paul of Mexas Farm. Paul helps Greenling stay green and sustainable by taking some of our compost! We’re happy to keep the circle going by serving up Paul’s delicious garlic scapes this season. Stumped for how to cook these beauties?

10 Things To Do With Garlic Scapes

pickled

1. Pickle ‘em
Because who doesn’t love pickles? These pretty pickled Garlic Scapes are so simple, even pickling/canning novices can enjoy.

2. Make Pesto
Pesto is a delicious spread to keep handy- wonderful for any number of pastas, as a spread on sandwiches, a base for salad dressings and sauces, or simply eaten with a nice chunk of bread. You can throw in other herbs or green leafy things too.

baconwrapped

3. Wrap ‘em in Bacon
For meat eaters, there’s really nothing better than something wrapped in bacon. Show off the flavor of spring while keeping your carnivorous friends happy.

4. Roast
Like with garlic itself, roasting the scapes brings out their sweetness, making for a lovely side dish. Simply toss the washed scapes with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 450 for 5-7 minutes, until browned nicely. If you’d like to use the leaves too, roast them for 5 minutes first.

5. Use Raw
Like the spring onion greens we’ve also seen this season, they’re terrific raw! Thinly chop the shoots and add to a tuna or chicken salad, stir into hot rice or scatter over a salad, the way you might scatter sliced scallions or an herb.

6. Stir-Fry
Garlic scapes are excellent for stir-fry dishes as they don’t compete with stronger flavored ingredients, but rather complement them with a sweet succulent character. Try this recipe for vegetarian Stir-Fry with Garlic Scapes, Carrots, and Shiitake Mushrooms. You can also use those leaves, just stir-fry longer.

garlicscapevinegar

7. Gift Infused Vinegar
For fresh vegetable salads, only the best dressing will do- and what’s better than a salad dressing you made yourself? Make your own Garlic Scape Vinegar and gift to friends and family throughout the summer. Simply add olive oil + a squeeze of lemon for a beautiful salad dressing!

8. Make Spring Soup
Take advantage of everything green to make a beautiful spring soup: Garlic Scape, Spinach, and Pea Soup. ! Serve it hot if you wish, or cold as a starter on a hot summer day.

9. Make Mayonnaise
After you make your own mayonnaise, you’ll never want to buy store-bought again. Fresh garlic scapes give this mayo a delicious boost for potato salads, sandwiches, and more!

flowers

10. Wait for the bulbs to bloom!
Paul of Mexas Farm says if you aren’t a huge fan of garlic, simply use as a springtime bouquet! The little bulbs will bloom in about a week, turning into pretty purple fuzzballs. Perfect for outdoor barbeques or garden parties

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Sweet Potato, Kale, and Black Bean Skillet

By Margo on March 11, 2013 in Main Dishes, Recipes, Staff Picks, Winter

Craving Mexican food but determined to eat healthy and use in-season veggies? This Sweet Potato, Kale, and Black Bean skillet does just the trick. Fairly simple and deliciously aromatic (and vegetarian!), this recipe makes a meal for 4-6, or sides for a crowd. Sumac and cumin give this dish its wonderfully deep flavor. Sumac isn’t a super common spice, but I found it at Central Market. (If you can’t find it, you can get a similar flavor from mixing chili powder and paprika in a 1:1 ratio.)

I like this recipe because it isn’t fussy. I wanted kale and sweet potatoes to be center stage, but if you would rather taste more black bean, just use a little less of the veggies. If you’re sensitive to onions or garlic (like my Mom is), you can easily leave them out and it will be just as good. Similarly, to kick it up a notch, I’d consider adding another clove or two of garlic, some chili powder, and thinly sliced red onions (added with the kale.) Serve it alongside rotisserie chicken, or eat it wrapped up in a tortilla. And if you’re not interested in healthy, I think this would be an excellent enchilada filling! Because lets be honest, who doesn’t love things smothered in cheese? Any way you slice it, this recipe can easily be made your own.

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Black Bean skillet
serves 4-6
prep time: 15 minutes | cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 or 3 sweet potatoes
1 shallot
1 clove of garlic
1 can organic black beans, low-sodium, drained
3 hearty handfuls (3 cups ish) kale (I used Russian kale, because it’s what I had, but green kale is just as good!)
1-1/2 to 2 tbsp. organic olive oil
1/4 tsp. sumac
1/8 tsp. cumin
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 lime, for serving
tortillas, for serving
sour cream or greek yogurt, for serving
1 avocado, for serving

Prep
1. Peel sweet potatoes, shallot, and garlic. Wash and dry kale.
2. Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Lay cut surface flat on a cutting board and slice in half again lengthwise. Then, slice into ¼-1/2 inch thick pieces. (Sweet potatoes are tough to cut. I don’t have an amazing knife, but this method works great! See photo.)
3. Dice shallot and garlic.
4. Tear kale into large pieces.

Cook
1. Place large sauté pan over medium high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Add sweet potatoes, shallot, garlic, sumac and cumin to pan and cook for 2 minutes until you can smell the spices, stirring throughout to coat.

2. Bring the heat down to medium and cover. Let cook for about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, making sure the sweet potatoes don’t burn (oops, a few of mine did!) Cook until the sweet potatoes are soft enough to easily cut in half and are nice and brown.

3. Add black beans. Stir to mix. Add kale. At this point it will be a little hard to stir, but don’t worry, kale cooks down! Season generously with salt and pepper, mix and cover.

4. After 3-4 minutes, uncover and stir. If it’s feeling a bit too dry at this point, drizzle a little more olive oil. Taste for seasoning- if you want more spice, add a pinch of sumac! Cook for another minute or so until kale is cooked to your liking.

5. If you’re serving with tortillas, start warming them up. For just a few people, heat them with a bit of oil in a small skillet. For a larger group, wrap a tortillas in foil and stick in a warm oven for 2-3 minutes. Cut your lime and slice the avocado.

6. Serve on top of warm tortillas, drizzled with lime and served with avocado slices and greek yogurt. I made a taco out of mine. Enjoy!

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Green Onion Dip

By Christy on August 3, 2012 in Appetizers & Snacks, Gluten-free, Recipes

Tangy green onion dip goes great with fresh veggies.

1 Cup Sour Cream

1 Cup Mayonnaise

1 Bunch Green Onions, cleaned and chopped fine

1 Clove Garlic, minced fine

1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in food processor for about 30 seconds. Tastes even better the next day after sitting covered in refrigerator overnight.

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Homemade Veggie Bouillon

By Christy on March 9, 2012 in Soups, Uncategorized, Vegan

As a rare cold winter day hits Austin, my craving for a warm bowl of comforting soup heats up. But who has time to spend all day chopping and simmering? Fortunately, I have a secret weapon in my freezer I can reach for in times like these. My homemade veggie bouillon has no msg or unpronounceable preservatives. Just farm fresh veggies and salt.

Before you ask, yes, you really do need all the salt to preserve the vegetables. You only use about 1 teaspoon of the bouillon per cup of water, so the overall salt content in the final soup is rather low.

Use the bouillon as the base for a homemade soup, to punch up a sauce, or mix with sour cream for a veggie dip.

Vegetable Bouillon

3 carrots, scrubbed and peeled, cut in 1 inch pieces

3 celery ribs, cut in 1 inch pieces

1 leek, white part only, sliced

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered

12 sun dried tomato halves

8 ounces mushrooms (crimini, white button, portabla, whatever you like)

2 cloves garlic

1 bunch parsley, leaves and stems

7 ounces of salt

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon pimenton or smoked paprika (optional)

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it forms a smooth paste. Will store in fridge for about a week, store in freezer after that. Use approximately 1 teaspoon per 1 cup of water.

Hints- I have a smaller food processor, so I have to do this in 2 batches. You can add as much as you can fit in the bowl and pulse it down to add more if you need to also. This recipe is very versatile and you can use almost any vegetable you want. Don’t like mushrooms? Substitute parsnips. Want a Mexican style soup? Use cilantro instead of parsley. The sun dried tomatoes are pretty important to rounding out the flavor for me and fresh tomatoes would add too much liquid so I would not sub those out but experiment with your local box to find what works for you.

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Meatless Monday: Curried Sprouted Lentils w/ Ginger & Garlic Cilantro Sauce

By Aspen on August 29, 2011 in Gluten-free, Main Dishes, Vegan

From TheNourishingGourmet.com

Makes 4-6 servings

If you’re getting a Local Box this week, you’ve already got Sprouted Lentils coming your way! If not, you can add them to your basket individually too- they are nutrient packed and local from Groovy Greens in Blanco, TX.

Make the flavorful raw cilantro sauce while the lentils are cooking. Since it’s Hatch season, try throwing a Hatch Chile in place of the Anaheim for some extra heat.

Curried Sprouted Lentils with a Ginger and Garlic Cilantro Sauce

About 3 cups of sprouted lentils and 3 cups of sprouted wheat, or another 3 cups of sprouted lentils (this is measured loosely, i.e. I didn’t press the sprouts down at all)
2 tablespoons of coconut oil or olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups of water

In a large saucepan with a lid, heat oil over medium high heat until hot, but not smoking. Add onions and cook while stirring for about 4 minutes, until the onion is starting to soften. Then add the garlic, curry powder and cloves and cook for about 30 seconds longer and add the water.

Then add the lentils (and optional wheat, if using). Bring to a simmer with the lid on, then lower heat. Steam for 15-20 minutes until soft. If just using lentils, you can steam for even a little less.

Meanwhile, make your cilantro sauce.
1 bunch of cilantro, stemmed and washed
Either half of a large Aneheim pepper or one small one, seeded and cut into chunks
A heaping teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
3 small garlic cloves, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 lemon juiced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until everything is well combined and it’s at the consistency you want.

Serve the curried with lentils with a big spoonful of your cilantro sauce on top and enjoy.