How’s this for a spring salad… tender salad greens with peas and pea shoots, strawberries, toasted almonds, and poppy seed dressing? Now imagine it with local grown strawberries! Spring has finally arrived in the upper Midwest, hopefully the strawberries will too.
We’ve been learning about microgreens after receiving a gift from Kinney Mini Farms. They are a family owned sustainable urban farm right here in Cottage Grove, MN!
After bringing home the selection below, I had to learn the facts and then figure out how to use them. I quickly found I was using them like other greens and herbs… in salads, entrées, pesto and garnishes.
Microgreens are not the same as sprouts. Because sprouts are not grown in soil and require a lot of humidity, they are prone to bacteria and have been traced to food borne illness. Sprouts provide texture and crunch, but not much nutrition.
Microgreens are vegetable plants grown in soil and harvested after growing their first true leaves. Not only do they pack a nutrition punch, even more than the mature vegetable, the flavor is incredible!
I purposely mixed up the variations and did a blind taste test. I tasted the peppery arugula in the salad mix, the bite of the radish, mustard greens taste like mustard, and pea shoots are super sweet.
We created the refreshing and delicious Asian Pea Shoot Salad based on a recipe from the grower, Lisa, at Kinney Mini Farms.
We served the salad with pork tenderloin roasted in mustard glaze and quickly realized the salad dressing was perfect drizzled on the pork with some extra peanuts.
Lunch the next day was easy with leftover salad and mustard glazed pork, more dressing and peanuts, then topped with mustard microgreens.
Microgreens also add color, flavor and nutrition to sandwiches. The simple addition of salad mix greens can take a bagel and egg sandwich from stodgy to spectacular!
Asian Pea Shoot Salad
1/2 head Napa cabbage, chopped
1 oz Long pea shoots, chopped
1 stalk Celery, diced
1/4 cup Fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup Fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup Roasted peanuts, chopped
Lemon zest
Dressing
2 T Olive oil
1 T Sesame oil
1 T Rice vinegar
2 T Soy sauce
Pinch of salt
Halve the Napa cabbage and chop into bite sized pieces.
Combine the cabbage with the remaining chopped ingredients.
Sprinkle the greens with lemon zest and combine.
Whisk together the dressing ingredients or blend with an immersion blender if available.
Toss the greens with enough dressing to coat.
Garnish the salad with sliced lemon, peanuts, and herbs or microgreens.
Serve with additional dressing on the side.
The Napa cabbage does not wilt like lettuce so extras can be chilled and served again the next day.
Strawberry & Pea Salad
4 cups Tender greens, chopped
1 oz Long pea shoots, chopped
1 cup Frozen baby peas, thawed
1 cup Fresh strawberries, quartered
1/4 cup Sliced almonds, roasted or candied
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
Dressing
1/4 cup Olive oil
2 T White wine vinegar
1 T Sugar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Poppy seed
Whisk together the dressing ingredients or blend with an immersion blender if available.
Combine the chopped greens and pea shoots and toss with a small amount of dressing.
Place the greens on a salad plate.
Sprinkle the salads with green peas, strawberries, almonds and parmesan cheese.
Drizzle with additional dressing.
Makes about 4 salads.