Wednesday, June 11, 2008

What's Cooking Wednesday - Sublime Spring Lunch




Please go to Shan's place for more What's Cooking Wednesday participants.

It's garlic scapes season. What are garlic scapes, you might ask? They are little blades of goodness whose flavor rests between yes, garlic, and maybe spring onions. They're milder than both, and fabulous in all sorts of dishes and sauces. They look like this:



I wanted a lunch that would showcase the taste of the mild scapes, so I came up with this:



Strawberry-Mint Salad with Garlic Scape Tostada


For the Salad:

Ingredients:

a handful of fresh, local, spring greens or lettuce
5 - 6 large mint leaves
1 large radish or 2 smaller radishes
5 - 6 fresh, local strawberries (if possible)
1/2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1/2 TBS balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning

1. Grab a handful of fresh spring greens, preferably from at least two heads of lettuce. Rinse and tear into bite-sized pieces.
2. Chop 5 - 6 good sized leaves of fresh mint and sprinkle it over the lettuce.
3. Slice a large radish or two smaller radishes. Scatter over the top of the salad.
4. Slice 5 - 6 fresh strawberries. Scatter those over the top of the salad.
5. Take 1/2 TBS extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 TBS fruity balsamic vinegar and 1/4 tsp Montreal Steak seasoning. Whisk together until vinaigrette is formed. Drizzle over the salad.



For the "Tostada" (I'm calling this a tostada, but it's really just a soft taco, served open-faced):

Ingredients:

8 chopped garlic scapes
1 egg
1 egg white
a little buttermilk, cream or half and half to taste
1 corn tortilla
a few sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped
1 TBS sour cream (give or take - I used reduced fat)

1. Heat a little olive oil in a pan on medium heat.
2. Add about 8 chopped garlic scapes - chop them fairly fine, but don't mince them.
3. Saute until garlic smell is released and they turn bright green.
4. Beat an egg, an egg white and a little buttermilk or cream or half and half if you have it and if you want to (I used a little lowfat buttermilk).
5. Turn heat to medium low and add eggs. Scramble together until the eggs are just set.
6. Heat a corn tortilla using whatever method you usually use (I wrapped mine in a paper towel and zapped it for 30 seconds).
7. Spread tortilla on a plate, place egg mixture on tortilla, sprinkle with fresh, chopped cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.

Enjoy:

25 comments:

Korie said...

3...2...1...NOMNOMNOM!
Ooh that looks so good. Two questions though.
First, if I can't find the steak seasoning, what else would you recomend for the dressing? And with the garlic scapes, could spring onions be used? Cause I've never seen garlic scapes in Pittsburgh, let along Gent.

Goofball said...

and now you post it when I am eating dinner! Darn...next time you bring over the dish rather than making my plates look so pale.

thailandchani said...

Oh, that does look really good! It also looks like something I'd be willing to make. :)

Jen said...

Spring onions would work fine, as would chives, Lilac. And in terms of the season try this instead:
a pinch of freshly ground pepper
a pinch of sea salt
a pinch of garlic powder
a pinch of celery seed (this can be omitted if hard to find)

Well, Goofball, it's just the great Farmers Market! If you fly me over, I'll bring the plate. ;-)

It really isn't hard, Chani, and it's all healthy and relatively low in fat and cals.

Renaedujour said...

I've been hearing a lot about scapes lately. I'll have to get my hands on some. The strawbery salad looks wonderful. I'm very hungry for strawberries right now. :)

Jen said...

I love fresh, homegrown strawberries - they're my absolute favorite, Renae. And we're having (lowfat) Strawberry Shortcake tonight!

Jami said...

One of the ways you can tell it's spring here is that when you mow the yard, it smells like garlic and onions! The garlic scapes grow wild everywhere in our yards - they're weeds. We take some for salad and cooking use but most of them just get mowed down. Sadly, they don't last for long - even if they're not mowed.

Momisodes said...

Whoa! That looks ah-mazing! Anything with strawberries is right up my alley :)

anno said...

These are inventive and mighty delicious-looking recipes -- WOW! And YUM!

Jen said...

Jami - They must grow similarly, here, too. We have garlic mustard, which is an invasive species, but we don't have garlic scapes growing in our yard. Weeds or not - they taste good!

Jen said...

Sandy, it really is a nice salad. I've been making it for years as soon as the strawberries and radishes overlap.

Thanks for the kind words, Anno!

Jen said...

Actually, Ben, I was scared to call it anything, because it's just a bastardization of anything even vaguely Mexican, but it seemed a good match for the tortilla and cilantro. I was actually going to say, "Ben, if you read this, please forgive my misnaming!"

It's good to have you back! ;-)

Shan said...

Mmmmmm looks delicious!

Jen said...

Thanks, Shan!

Susan @ SGCC said...

What a lovely, light Summer meal! I love to put berries in my salads too. Your "tostada" looks delicious too. Are garlic scapes anything like garlic chives? They look similar.

Marye said...

yummy!
I may do that tomorrow..we have some growing wild in the pasture... :)
marye
bakingdelights.com

NĂºria said...

A different and wonderful salad and a lovely flavourful tortilla... Mmmmmm Lunch time is getting near and my tummy starts to protest!

Just one curious thing: what you call tortilla I would call tortita and what you call omelete I would call tortilla!!!! Fun ugh?

There's something in my blog for you♥

Jen said...

Susan, I'm not sure, but I'm guessing garlic chives and garlic scapes are the same thing.

Marye - I'd highly recommend it! It was so simple and delicious.

Nuria - I guess we use the Mexican/French terms here. I know what a Spanish tortilla is, but I can never seem to make them right. A friend of mine makes beautiful versions! It's funny... I think you were reading here while I was reading over at your place! And thank you so much!

CableGirl said...

oh that sounds soooo yummy...

But out of curiosity, if you don't belong to a coop, where do you find scapes? I've never even heard of them before...

Jen said...

Well, CG, apparently in Jami's or Marye's yards! (And they both live in TX). We have a number of stalls selling them at our Farmers Market, so my guess is that's the best place to look. They're also at our local People's Food Co-op (store that's part of the national co-op movement). It may also be that they grow at cooler climes, and it's harder to find them in FL.

Dru said...

They both look yummy. I'll have to try at least one of the recipes.

Jen said...

They're both easy and delicious, Dru! Heart healthy, too.

Thistlemoon said...

That looks great! I have never had a chance to try garlic scapes but would love to...I have seen them on so many blogs...

Alex Elliot said...

So when are you going to write your own cookbook? I'm glad you explained what the garlic scrapes were.

glamah16 said...

so craving fresh fruit and veggies now. A lot of convienance eating while moving to the house, etc. Looks fab.