Market Meals is a collaboration between Boulder Reporting Lab and the Boulder County Farmers Markets, featuring weekly seasonal recipes built around ingredients from local growers, ranchers and food producers. Find it in Nibbles every Tuesday and on Boulder Reporting Lab. Sign up to get Nibbles in your inbox.
When you walk through the farmers markets this time of year, you will see baskets of various green shoots spread across vendors’ tables. Frankly, they all look the same. What is the right ingredient for your meal?
This is the allium family, beloved by cuisines across the globe. Starring members include onions, garlic, leeks, shallots and chives.
Here is a brief cook’s guide to enjoying them in various dishes:
Green onions: Also known as scallions, green onions are thin with no bulb. Their fresh, mild, slightly sweet onion flavor is most often used raw as a garnish.
Spring onions: Similar in appearance to green onions, these have larger bulbs. They are the more delicate version of mature onions and are used raw or cooked.
Green garlic: Immature garlic harvested in spring, green garlic has flat green tops that taper into a white base with a small bulb. This spring garlic is sweeter and milder than its mature version. Chop and use as you would green onions.
Garlic scapes: Bright green and distinctly curly, scapes are the flower stalks of the garlic that will mature until fall. Their fresh garlicky flavor is perfect for pesto and stir-fries.
Chives: A perennial herb, chives look more grass-like with thin, hollow leaves. They have a mild onion flavor and are often used as a garnish. Chives are also a great pollinator plant and natural pest repellent, making them the perfect low-maintenance addition to your garden.
Leeks: Distinctly larger than spring onions or green garlic, leeks have a mild onion flavor and are often used in soups, stews and savory pies.
Farmer Christan Toohey of Toohey & Sons Organic in Hygiene offers the following recipe featuring a combination of fresh spring ingredients.
Fresh Pasta with Spinach and Green Garlic
- 1 pound pasta (local fresh or dried)
- About ½ pound fresh spinach leaves
- 3 stalks green garlic, thinly sliced (or green onions or spring onions)
- 1 teaspoon chile flakes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Optional ingredients: grated Pecorino Romano cheese; grilled salmon
Cook pasta until al dente in lots of boiling salted water, drain and set aside.
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and saute green garlic until fragrant, for a minute or two. Add spinach and cook until wilted, then stir in chile flakes. Add cooked pasta, toss briefly in the pan and plate. Garnish and top as desired and serve.
What’s fresh this week? Farmers will also be offering bok choy, carrots, spring greens, greenhouse tomatoes and cucumbers, rhubarb, plant starts, asparagus, fresh flowers and more this week at the Boulder Farmers Market and the Longmont Farmers Market.
Visiting the Markets
- 13th Street between Arapahoe Ave. and Canyon Blvd.
- 8 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturdays, April 4-Nov. 21; 3:30-7:30 p.m., Wednesdays, May 6-Oct. 7
- More information
- Boulder County Fairgrounds
- 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, April 4-Nov. 21
- More information
Have a tip or suggestion? Send your comments, questions and ideas to nibbles@boulderreportinglab.org.
