Salad Greens 101

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Salad Greens 101

Some of the earliest cold-resistant crops available in the spring (or earlier if you have a farmer who has a fancy-schmancy greenhouse), fresh, vibrant salad greens are popping up now at farmers' markets. That first, crisp, lightly-dressed bowlful always feels like such an extraordinary luxury after months of pots of piping-hot long-simmered root vegetables and squash.

These leaves tend to be delicate, and depending on the variety, sometimes a bit costly. So here are a few tips to help insure you get every last bite for your buck.

Washing
Your lettuces and spinach, particularly from a farm stand, can often have a fair amount of dirt on the leaves and stems. Place all the greens in a large bowl and fill with cold water. Agitate the leaves gently with your hand, and allow the leaves to float up and the dirt to sink down. Carefully skim the greens off the top of the water, leaving the dirt behind. Repeat a few times, if necessary.

Storing
After cleaning, dry your greens thoroughly. I think a salad spinner works the best, but you can also lay them out on paper or dish towels and blot gently, and allow to air dry. Place dry greens in a plastic bag, layering here and there with paper towels. The towels will help absorb some of the moisture left on the leaves, that would normally make them start to rot. Also the slightly damp towels will stay very cold in the refrigerator, keeping the greens crisp. Change the towels after a few days if they seem excessively damp.

Blow a little breath of air into the bag before sealing tight. The carbon dioxide from your breath helps to slow down the deterioration of the leaves, and the extra padding of air will keep them from getting crushed in the fridge. Depending on the type of green, the leaves should be good for a week or two stored like this, but ideally use them much sooner for optimal flavor and nutrients.

And Refresh...
If your leaves emerge from storage and look a little less than lively, you can refresh them some and add a little crispness back. Fill a large bowl with very cold water. Place leaves in the water and soak for 5-10 minutes to basically rehydrate. Dry thoroughly, and either serve immediately or chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours until ready.

This also works great to get a few extra days out of fresh herbs, or for greens picked from your garden in warmer weather, that seem to wilt by the time they make it to the house.

Here's to many happy salad days in the months ahead.

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happyrhubarbmonday.

The first inch and a half of Victoria rhubarb poking up from the muddy March ground. Pies and jams to follow.

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Pan-Seared Sea Scallops, with Pickled Watermelon Radish and Microgreen Salad

Here's a great little dish using those irresistable watermelon radishes and microgreens now growing at a farmers' market near you. Ready in under a half hour, this would be a deceptively easy, super impressive first course for a local-chic dinner soiree. Or triple the scallops, and pair it with cool buckwheat soba noodles dressed with sesame vinaigrette and sprinkled with additional microgreens for a light and springy main course.

Either way it uses some of the best items our farmers are offering up at this moment. And after months and months of braised root vegetables, some very welcome fresh leafy crunchy variety.


	PAN-SEARED SEA SCALLOPS, WITH PICKLED WATERMELON RADISH AND MICROGREEN SALAD Serves 4, as an appetizer. Triple recipe for a main course. 4 large sea scallops 12 thin slices of watermelon radish. (Other radish varieties will work well too, but will have a bit more bite.) 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup loosely packed microgreens 2 teaspoon rice vinegar 2 tablespoon sesame oil 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 tablespoon canola, vegetable, or peanut oil Remove the adductor muscle from the scallops. Pat dry with paper towels and keep refrigerated. In a small bowl combine the radish slices with the sugar and salt. Allow to sit for about five minutes. They are ready to use at this point, or can be refrigerated for up to four hours. Before using, rinse gently and blot with paper towels. Put the rice vinegar in a small bowl, with a small pinch of salt. Gradually whisk in the sesame oil. Set aside. Arrange radish slices on plates. Remove scallops from the refrigerator, season lightly with salt. In a saute pan, over high heat, melt a tablespoon of butter with a tablespoon of oil. When hot and shimmering carefully add the scallops to the very hot pan. Do not move them at first. After about a minute gently check to see if they are stuck to the pan, and if browning too quickly. Turn down heat slightly, if so. After about another minute, they should be nicely browned an caramelized, flip to the other side and sear for another minute. Place scallops on radish slices on serving plates. In a medium bowl toss microgreens with sesame dressing (you may not need to use all of it), and top scallops with dressed greens. Serve immediately.

[caption id="attachment_2004" align="aligncenter" width="600"]

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Market Watch: Microgreens

Micro Mesclun from Windfall Farms, Union Square Greenmarket, NYC.

Spring is here, and the farmers' market offerings are slowly transitioning from squash, root vegetables, and cold storage foods to fresh spring produce in the weeks ahead. One of the first fresh spring finds to look for are microgreens.

Microgreens are similar to hippy, 70's sprouts, in that they are the first small growth from a seed. However very different from sprouts, in that they are planted in soil (sprouts are cultivated in water or damp cloth or paper), and grown in sunlight like you are starting the full sized plant or green. However, sometime between 8-14 days the microgreen is hand snipped at it's base, leaving the root behind (again, different from sprouts), leaving you with a teeny tiny, crunchy green, that is a micro flavor bomb.

Arugula, lettuces, beets, radish, and kale are very commonly used for microgreens, but cilantro, basil and wasabi are available for a really exciting addition. They are used frequently as a fancy-schmancy garnish in restaurants, offering great color and texture, in addition to a burst of flavor on the top of a dish. But use them at home for a delicate little salad, to top off a piece of grilled seafood, or anywhere you want to add a small bit of freshness without overpowering a recipe with large greens leaves. They are thin and delicate, so are perfectly tender just eaten raw.

Keep an eye out for them at the market, or grow your own in some seed flats in your window until the weather gets a little warmer, and then set aside a micro-patch of garden for the rest of the season. Ready in just over a week, I've planned ahead for dinner parties, planting seeds a week or so prior, and snipping fancy-schmancy garnishes of my own hours before my guests arrive. Impressive? Yes. Easy? Yes. Flavorful, healthy, and fun on plate? Yes, yes and more yes.

Gruyere and leek tartlette with homegrown arugula microgreens.

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Chew on this.

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."

-Margaret Atwood

2011's crop begins.

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Catie Baumer Schwalb is a chef, food writer and photographer, who splits her life between the city and the country. Not too long ago Catie was a New York City based actress and playwright for more than a decade. She has her Master of Fine Arts from the National Theater Conservatory, and her Grand Diplôme in classic culinary arts from the French Culinary Institute in New York City. ... Read More ≫

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