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Snap Pea & Pea Shoot Stir Fry

6/22/2016

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Snap Pea & Pea Shoot Stir Fry @whollyrooted.com
Pea season has arrived! I love the fresh green flavor of peas and pea shoots. I love to eat snap peas raw, pickled, sautéed, and steamed. I love to eat pea shoots in salads, wraps, stir fry, and tacos. We get peas and pea shoots from our CSA, but this is one of the things I also grow because...well...we just can't get enough. Pea season is short and sweet, and I like to make the most of it.

This year I am growing a new (to me) variety of pea called Magnolia Blossom Tendril Pea. It makes a lot of tendrils and fewer leaves, allowing more air flow in the peas. The flowers are so beautiful, and the plants are huge producers! My husband has been traveling for business most of the past few weeks, so he is missing out on the peastravaganza. This recipe is quick and easy and super delicious. It takes advantage of those freshly picked peas that are so tender they don't need to be boiled or overcooked at all, and are crispy and perfect with a few minutes in the skillet.

I am also growing Blue Spice Basil this summer and it has quickly become a favorite. It has a rich, exotic, spicy sweet fragrance that is AMAZing (and the bugs don't touch it). It worked so well with the toasted sesame oil and ginger that I am dehydrating a batch to see how it holds up when dried. Most basil doesn't dry well and so we freeze it or make pesto to preserve it. This basil has such a different thick hairy leaf and sublime fragrance that I am curious - I would love to have a lot dried to use all winter. We shall see!
Snap Pea & Pea Shoot Stir Fry @whollyrooted.com
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snap pea + pea shoot stir fry

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{wholly rooted}

This recipe is perfect for pea season - it combines fresh snap peas and pea shoots with ginger, garlic, soy, and sesame oil to make a quick and easy (and delicious) dish. Serve as a side dish, or over rice for a main vegetarian course.

{ingredients}

  • 2 cups fresh snap peas, ends off

  • 2 cups fresh pea shoots, roughly chopped

  • 1 tsp grated ginger

  • 1 tsp grated garlic

  • 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce (or coconut aminos)

  • Freshly grated black pepper

  • Sprig of minced spicy basil such as thai or blue spice (optional - you can substitute dill, cilantro, or other fresh herbs if you wish)

  • 1 Tbsp brown sesame seeds

Directions::

Heat the toasted sesame oil with the minced garlic and ginger on medium heat in a skillet/sauté pan.

Add the snap peas and sauté, stirring constantly for about a minute or so.

Add the pea shoots and soy sauce to the pan, stirring constantly until pea shoots are coated and slightly wilted.

Toss in the freshly minced herbs and stir to mix in well.

Spoon everything out of the pan into a bowl.

Grate some fresh pepper over the top.

Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top.

Drizzle a little extra sesame oil over the top if desired.

Serve warm!

Published June 21, 2016
Snap Pea & Pea Shoot Stir Fry @whollyrooted.com


​I am sure I am going to be sharing more pea recipes before our short season is over (peas make the best quick pickles!). Having pea season peak just as all of the herbs are cranking means that there are so many opportunities for different flavors and combinations. Fresh herbs and peas really do go well together as they all have that fresh green garden flavor that can't be beat.

My husband will be gone for a few more days so the pea stir fry today was all mine. He had better hurry though, it has been hot and peas won't last forever!

about the ingredients: 
Snap Peas 
Pea Shoots
Blue Spice Basil 
Magnolia Blossom Tendril Pea
Brown Sesame Seeds


​

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Chive Blossom Asparagus.

4/26/2016

1 Comment

 
Chive Blossom Asparagus from WhollyRooted.com
We have long winters here in Wisconsin, so when things start to grow, it is exciting. We also don't have long seasons of items once they do appear. Asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries - all are in and out quickly, so we tend to do as much as we can while they are here. I love asparagus. My husband didn't used to like it so much, but it has grown on him as I experiment and find more flavors it blends with. Asparagus and chives are amazing together. And the smoky richness of sesame oil, the salty flavor of soy, and the crunchy bite of black sesame all meld together to make an awesome asparagus dish. I usually make this as a side dish, but it is also fantastic over a bed of lettuce (or arugula!) with a little soy/sesame oil dressing drizzled over the top. 
Chive Blossom Asparagus at WhollyRooted.com

Chive Blossom Asparagus

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{wholly rooted}

Bright green spears of asparagus are among the earliest of garden harvests. The thin, delicate spears work well with many different flavours, and are delicious steamed, grilled, as soup, pickled, and as a side dish. This recipe combines early season asparagus alongside another spring visitor – chive blossoms.

{ingredients}

  • 1 pound asparagus spears, woody ends removed if necessary

  • 1 small garlic clove, minced

  • 2-3 chive blossom heads

  • 5-7 chives, chopped

  • 3 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

  • 1 Tbsp GF soy sauce

  • 1 Tbsp black sesame seeds

  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Blanch your asparagus for about 2 minutes in boiling water.

Remove and quickly bring down to room temperature by rinsing in a cool bath. Drain well.

In a sauté pan, sauté sesame oil with minced garlic, soy sauce, and the black sesame seeds for a minute.

Add the chopped chives, and toss in asparagus, moving around to coat the asparagus fully.

Place asparagus on a platter and drizzle over any remaining garlic/sesame oil/sesame seeds on top.

Add a pinch of salt and pepper over the top to taste.

Sprinkle over the chive blossoms.

Serve immediately!

Published April 25, 2016
This recipe is quick and easy, but has a lot of flavor. A great way to combine the ingredients of spring into one fantastic dish. ​

Chive Blossom Infused Vinegar

Chives are a mid to late spring herb that are often overlooked. Chives are delicious in salads, egg dishes, sprinkled over soups, and more. Don’t forget the blossoms either. The delicate pinkish purple flower heads have a lovely onion/garlic flavor. Chive vinegar is a quick, simple way to capture some of that.
​

Chive Blossom Infused Vinegar whollyrooted.com
Directions:

Pack a ½ pint jar with (clean) chive blossoms, along with a few chive stems.

Pour over any type of mild white vinegar you like – you can pour over room temperature vinegar, but warm the vinegar first for best results.

Make sure all blossoms are fully covered.

Let sit for a few days in your fridge until the blossoms have turned the vinegar a lovely shade of pink.

Strain out the old chive flowers (add a few fresh ones for decoration if you wish), store in the fridge, and use in salad dressings!

Spring may seem slow to start some years, but when the first greens, herbs and veggies appear we can't get enough. Here is to spring, and fresh food from the garden!
1 Comment

Spring Onion Quick Pickle.

3/30/2016

2 Comments

 
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​I like quick pickles. I don't have a ton of time to make dozens of jars of the same thing endlessly, and quite honestly I get bored with flavors and really like mixing it up, using what is fresh on hand, and having small batches of a variety of quick pickles to liven up meals, crudités, salads, and of course for snacks. At any given moment year-round I have a few jars of something in my fridge. Right now I have pickled cucumbers and garlic in a slightly sweet brine, and pickled daikon which are amazingly peppery and crunchy. Spring onions are one of the first things in spring that we can find here in Wisconsin, and I like pickling them so that I can spread them out throughout the summer. I like the small green brilliance of their flavor in a pickle and they work on salads, burgers, or with a plate of hummus and tomatoes. 

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Spring Onion Quick Pickle

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{wholly rooted}

Quick pickles are a delicious way to use the bounty of the season to create a variety of flavours and textures. This recipe uses one of the gardens earliest arrivals – spring onions, or scallions.

{ingredients}

  • 1.5 cup mild pickling vinegar of choice (white, rice, or champagne vinegar all are fine)

  • 2.5 cups water

  • 1/3 cup cane or turbinado sugar

  • 1.5 Tbsp sea salt

  • 20-30 green spring onions, trimmed

  • 1/2 tsp peppercorn

  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

  • 1 tsp dill seeds

  • 1/2 tsp coriander

  • 1 clove of garlic, chopped

Heat water/vinegar/sugar/salt/garlic in a pot until dissolved. Let cool to room temp.

Be sure to peel any wilted outer bits off of your onions. You want nice firm, crunchy pieces.

Trim some of the green off of your spring onions to fit vertically into a 1 quart canning jar.

Using a clean/sterile quart jar;

-Add dry spices to the jar

-Add the trimmed onions vertically to the jar until packed tightly

-Pour cooled liquid over the top to cover

-Screw on vinegar safe lid (no metal!)

Let sit in fridge for 2-3 days before eating!

These onions become crisp and crunchy with a twangy pickle flavor. They are delicious in any slaw or salad, atop a burger, or just as a crisp snack.

Published March 29, 2016
Or try this: Add some additional zesty flavor by reducing the white vinegar in the recipe above to 1 cup and add 1/2 cup umeboshi plum vinegar. 

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Another bonus of having a fresh pickling brine is when all of your salad greens start coming in full blast you not only have some pickled scallions to put on your salad, but you have a tasty brine to use for salad dressings. Simply mix a little pickle brine with extra virgin olive oil, s&p, and a tiny bit of grainy mustard. Stir and boom. Delicious dressing. 

I know most of us have the image of a farm woman in her hot kitchen with 422 pounds of one kind of cucumber frantically pickling and canning until 3AM. But these days we can get such a wide variety of seeds and can easily grow such a diversity of herbs, fruit, and vegetables, that we don't need to mono-pickle. Small batch pickling is a quick, easy, and delicious way to preserve the extras, the favorites, and the flavors of the season!

Spring comes so slowly after a long winter, but jumping back into the garden and kitchen to start preserving again feels good. After a long winter it feels pretty much like a big TA-DAAAAA! 

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    whollyrooted.com

    denise cusack

    I am a certified aromatherapist, clinical herbalist, organic gardener, plant conservationist, photographer, writer, designer, artist, nature lover, permaculture designer, health justice activist, whole foods maker, and mother of two unschooled teens  in south central Wisconsin. 

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  • Blog
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