This week’s Star Ingredient is Kale Raab! Kale raab is just the fancy name for the spring flower buds of kale when it bolts (which means goes to seed) in the early Spring. It’s sweet, nutty, tender and crisp. You can eat it raw in a salad, cooked in a pasta dish or mixed with a stir fry. But you better hurry if you want to enjoy it…it has a VERY short season so bring on the raab before it’s gone!
A cross between Romaine and Butter lettuce, this sweet crunchy lettuce is perfect for sandwiches, salads and even as a scoop for dips and spreads!
The rutabaga is an often overlooked but sweet and nutrient-packed root vegetable. Originating sometime in the 17th century, it’s a hybrid between a turnip and a wild cabbage.
The watermelon radish is one of my most favorite vegetables and TOTALLY deserves to be the Star Ingredient of the Week. Especially since we’re coming to the end of its season…which is totally bumming me out but we’ll get to that shortly!
Once just the result of farmers thinning their garlic fields, Spring Garlic (or Green Garlic) is fast becoming a crop in its own right.
With its onion/scallion-like flavor profile with notable garlicky attributes, you’ll find that spring garlic is easy to incorporate in most recipes, raw or cooked.
You’re probably thinking, “What’s so mighty about Curly Parsley?” but don’t be too hasty to write this veggie/herb off! First, curly parsley is in the wonderful Carrot Family…the Apiaceae family to be technically correct…which is one good reason why it goes wonderfully with cooked carrots.