Komatsuna and Green Garlic Stir Fry

1 bunch komatsuna or kale

1 bunch radishes with tops, cut into wedges and rough chop the greens

1 stalk green garlic, sliced into thin strips

¼ cup tamari (soy sauce)

1 Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp corn starch (optional)

1 Tbsp minced ginger

Serve with rice

Mix sesame oil, tamari (soy sauce) ginger, half of the green garlic and corn starch together with and whisk until corn starch starts to dissolve (don’t worry if it clumps when you add it to the heat it will begin to separate).

Heat wok or sauté pan to medium high heat. Add the remaining green garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until aromatic take care not to burn the garlic (it can get a little bitter).

Add the radish wedges and cook for one minute then add the greens. Sauté until greens begin to wilt.

Push the greens and other veggies to the side of the pan and add the tamari mixture. Wisk to make sure the corn starch is completely dissolved. Once the sauce is uniform and starts to thicken, turn the heat off and then toss the greens and veggies with the sauce that you’ve just made.

Serve with rice.

Hooks 2-Yr Cheddar Mac and Cheese with Sautéed Asparagus

6oz Hooks 2-Yr cheddar, grated

1 pint heavy cream.

1# pasta, cooked (shells or elbows, whatever you like) 

2 Tbsp butter

½# asparagus, chopped

2 Tbsp green garlic, chopped

1 Tbsp minced chives

Salt and pepper to taste

Most recipes that you look up on the interwebs for homemade mac and cheese usually use flour in the recipe. This is essentially making a cheesy gravy. You are more than welcome to use one of those recipes as the gravy holds better for reheating. This recipe is designed to cook and eat right away because it will be so good, there won’t be leftovers. 

Chop up the asparagus and green garlic. 

Melt butter in a pan over med-high heat .

Add the chopped veggies and sauté until aromatic, stirring frequently. About 1-2 minutes

Remove and set aside for later.

Add heavy cream to the pan and reduce by have on med-low heat. If you have the heat turned up too high you will scorch the cream. We want to gently simmer to our desired reduction. The cream will try to boil over, so keep an eye on it and stir frequently. The consistency you are looking for will coat the back of a spoon. Once you’ve reached the right consistency, fold in the cheese. If the sauce seems runny, reduce further at a low temp.  

Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Fold in cooked pasta, sautéed veggies and garnish with minced chives.

Side note: If you did not get the cheese share and don’t have Hooks 2-Yr Cheddar. Other cheeses may be substituted. 

Grilled Zucchini and Asparagus Risotto

1 green garlic stalk sliced thin

2 cups rice (Arborio preferred, but any rice will do jasmine or basmati will break down faster, so shorter cook time)

Zest and juice of one lemon

1 cup white wine

1qt vegetable stock

½-1# asparagus 

1 zucchini sliced then grilled

1/4cup Parmesan grated

1-2 tablespoons butter cubed

salt & pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, saute the onion in a splash of oil until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and fry for another 30 seconds then add the rice.

Coat the rice in the oil then add the lemon zest and white wine.

Allow the wine to absorb into the rice then start adding the stock a little a time stirring to agitate the rice and allow it to release its starchy creaminess. The amount of stock needed varies as all rice absorbs liquid differently. You want the risotto to be creamy and ‘loose.’ It shouldn’t be able to keep its shape and the rice should be al dente (soft and pleasant to eat but not mushy).

While the risotto is cooking, coat the asparagus and zucchini in in a little oil and grill until charred.

Chop the asparagus stems into small rounds and keep aside. Small dice cooked zucchini.

When the rice is cooked to your liking, add the chopped asparagus rounds and diced zucchini, Parmesan, butter and lemon juice and stir in.

Season to taste, then serve.

Greens and Garlic Stir Fry

1 bunch Koji greens (tatsoi), rough chopped

1 bunch radishes with tops, cut radishes into wedges and rough chop the greens

1 stalk green garlic, sliced into thin strips

½# asparagus, cut into 1’’ pieces

¼ cup tamari (soy sauce)

1 Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp corn starch (optional)

1 Tbsp minced ginger

Serve with rice

Mix sesame oil, tamari (soy sauce), ginger, half of the green garlic, and corn starch together with and whisk until corn starch starts to dissolve (don’t worry if it clumps when you add it to the heat it will begin to separate).

Heat wok or sauté pan to medium high heat. Add the remaining green garlic and the asparagus. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until aromatic. Take care not to burn the garlic (it can get a little bitter).

Add the radish wedges and cook for one minute then add the greens. Sauté until greens begin to wilt.

Push the greens and other veggies to the side of the pan and add the tamari mixture. Wisk to make sure the corn starch is completely dissolved. Once the sauce is uniform and starts to thicken, turn the heat off and then toss the greens and veggies with the sauce that you’ve just made.

Serve with rice.

Green Garlic Risotto

2 tbsp olive oil

1 bunch green garlic, minced

1 ½ cups of arborio rice or medium grain rice

4 cups of veggie stock 

1 cup white wine

½ cup grated hard cheese like a parmigiana or an asiago

½ lemon

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil for the risotto in a heavy-bottomed sauté pan. Add the minced green garlic and sauté minute or two until the garlic is fragrant. Add rice stirring constantly until evenly coated. Add one cup of wine and stir continually until liquid is mostly absorbed. Then gradually add the veggie stock a cup at a time and reducing the liquid until mostly absorbed between each cup. This method allows for a slow release of the starches giving the finished product a creamy texture.

Cook until al dente, which is firm but cooked. You don’t want to overcook the rice into mush. Once the rice has reached the perfect state of al dente-ness add the cheese and the juice of half a lemon and stir until well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Green Garlic and Potato Soup

This recipe is a play on the classic potato leek soup. Yukon golds are a medium starch potato meaning that they will have a good texture blended up into a soup without being too mealy and instead have a more creamy texture.  

I am sorry, but this is another one of those recipes that work well if you have an immersion blender. A blender will work just fine as well. 

1 pound potatoes

2 stalks of green garlic (chopped)

¼ cup cream

2 Tbsp butter

Water

Salt and pepper to taste

Dice the potatoes and put cold water on them. Just enough to cover them and put on the burner at a med-high heat. I leave the skins on because I like the fiber and I don’t like peeling. If you want to peel the potatoes, that’s fine too. The reason you start with cold water is by slowly bring the water up to boiling temperature you will be able to leach out the starch into the water. This will help thicken the soup when you blend it. Keep an eye on the pot because it will try to boil over on you. 

While the potatoes are boiling, add 2 Tbsp of butter to a separate pot. Once the butter melts, add the chopped garlic. Cook this over medium heat. You are just going to sweat the garlic; you don’t want to brown it. If it browns, it’s ok. That’s just creating more sugars. Once the garlic is aromatic and starting to get translucent, remove from the heat. 

When your potatoes are fork tender, remove from heat. Bring the garlic pan back up to medium heat and start to add the potatoes with some of the cooking water, one ladle at a time. Make sure to get more potato than water. Once all of the potatoes are into the garlic pan, They should be pretty much falling apart. Turn off the burner and blend the soup. Make sure you err on the side of too thick of a mixture because you can always make it thinner if you need to. If the consistency looks appropriate to you, add your cream and then season with salt and pepper to taste.  

Green Garlic and Chive Vinaigrette

Standard Vinaigrette ratio is 3 parts oil to one part vinegar. An acceptable low fat alternative is 2 parts oil to one part vinegar. This is a good starting-out point. You need to keep tasting and adjust to make sure the balance of sweet oil and acidic vinegar is pleasing to your palate.

If you don’t have an immersion blender, I would suggest picking one up does wonders with making vinaigrettes and mayonnaise. A blender will work just fine as well. 

1 cup olive oil

½ cup white wine vinegar 

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp green garlic, minced

1 Tbsp chives, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Mince together the green garlic and chives

Measure out your oil and vinegar

Mix together and add Dijon mustard. Toss in the product and blend thoroughly. If you have an immersion blender you will get a very nice full bodied dressing for your salad. 

You may need to add a little more oil or a little more vinegar depending on whether you like a sweeter or more sharp vinaigrette

Salt and pepper to taste. 

Lemon - Green Garlic Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice (about one large lemon)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon minced green garlic tops

2 teaspoons dried oregano

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a mason jar and shake vigorously until combined and emulsified.

Asian Greens Mix and Green Garlic Stir Fry

1 bunch Komatsuna or Kale

1 Bunch Radishes with tops, cut into wedges and rough chop the greens

1 stalk Green Garlic, sliced into thin strips

¼ cup tamari (soy sauce)

1 tbsp. canola oil

2 tbsp. sesame oil

1 tbsp. corn starch (optional)

1 tbsp. minced ginger

Serve with rice

Mix sesame oil, tamari (soy sauce) ginger, half of the green garlic and corn starch together with and whisk until corn starch starts to dissolve (don’t worry if it clumps when you add it to the heat it will begin to separate)

Heat wok or sauté pan to medium high heat. Add the remaining green garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until aromatic take care not to burn the garlic (it can get a little bitter) 

Add the radish wedges and cook for one minute then add the greens. Sauté until greens begin to wilt.

Push the greens and other veggies to the side of the pan and add the tamari mixture. Wisk to make sure the corn starch is completely dissolved. Once the sauce is uniform and starts to thicken, turn the heat off and then toss the greens and veggies with the sauce that you’ve just made.

Arugula Pesto

½ lb Arugula (Chopped) (most recipes call for you to remove the stem, but the stem tastes good too and your just blending it, so I say keep the stems, it will give you more finished product.)

½ cup raw unsalted cashews (The cashew bits are cheaper at the store than whole cashews so look for those, because you are blending it up anyway)

½ cup parmesan cheese (grated)

½ cup Olive Oil

1 Green Garlic stalk (Chopped)

1/2tsp salt 

Roast the cashews over medium heat until you can start to see the oils in the nut starting to come to its surface. Remove from pan and set in fridge to cool. Be careful not to burn the cashews because it will become bitter.

Add all of the ingredients except for the Olive Oil to a Cuisinart with the chopper attachment.

Start to blend and slowly add the Olive Oil. Take your time with this because you want to make sure the finished texture is right. It is a lot easier to add more oil to get the right consistency then it is to take the oil back. Once the oil is added, taste it. Your pesto may need more salt depending on your taste buds. Add more oil if necessary, but make sure the texture is that of a paste, not runny because I am pretty sure pesto is Italian for paste.

Once your pesto is complete, add it to pasta dishes or toss it with roasted potatoes. Or, If you got the cheese share, you can make a quesadilla with Arugula Pesto and Organic Goat Bucheron!! How delicious is that?!