Tomāto, Tomăto: Either Way, A Healthy and Delicious Summertime Staple

/in /by

Tomāto. Tomăto. No matter how you say it, there’s no denying that summer has arrived once vine-ripe tomatoes begin to grace your garden, local farmers’ markets, and your Seasonal Roots basket. I grew up in a family that was dedicated to summer gardening, so I learned to appreciate and love a homegrown red, ripe tomato from an early age. Whether we were eating them by the slice or baked into a tomato pie, it wasn’t a complete summertime meal unless a tomato was on the table.

In addition to tasting delicious, tomatoes offer a wide range of health benefits. They are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, and fiber. Tomatoes are also high in lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant that works with other vitamins and minerals to aid in disease prevention.

Here are more fun facts about the health promoting nutrition of tomatoes:

  • Lycopene is well known as a preventer of prostate cancer, which makes tomatoes high on the healthy food list for men.
  • Lycopene is not just important for men. It also helps to protect the cells in our bodies from damage.
  • Studies in humans have shown that lycopene is protective against a variety of cancers including prostate of course, but also colorectal, breast, lung, endometrial, pancreatic, bladder, cervical and skin cancers.
  • Lycopene has also been shown to help prevent heart disease and may slow the development of cataracts and macular degeneration, an age related vision problem that can lead to blindness.
  • The vitamin B6, niacin, potassium and folate found in abundance in tomatoes are potent protectors against heart disease.
  • Niacin can lower high cholesterol levels and potassium has been shown to lower high blood pressure and to reduce the risk of heart disease.
  • Vitamin B6 and folate also work to convert the homocysteine in our bodies into harmless molecules. High levels of homocysteine are associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
  • The fiber in tomatoes also helps lower cholesterol levels, helps prevent colon cancer and helps to keep blood sugars at a low level.
  • Tomatoes are a source of riboflavin which has been shown to be helpful for migraine sufferers by reducing the frequency of their headaches.
  • A helpful note about tomato nutrition: lycopene is actually more available to the body when tomatoes are cooked, so cooked tomatoes are just as nutritious for you as raw.

This Raw Tomato Sauce is one of my favorite summertime recipes. With just a few simple ingredients (tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper) and less than 10 minutes, you can prepare this healthy and versatile “sauce” to enjoy over pasta, as a bruschetta topping, or alongside your favorite pizza pie. Just chop, stir, and let the ingredients take over.

raw tomato sauce 2

Raw Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:                                                                                                   

4 large tomatoes

4 cloves garlic, minced

6 fresh basil leaves, slivered

1/3  cup olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

To make, chop tomatoes and place (with juices) into a large bowl. Add garlic, 3 basil leaves, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Stir until well blended, cover, and let sit at room temperature for up to 10 hours before serving (10 hours isn’t necessary, but the longer the better). Sprinkle with the remaining basil and serve.

raw tomato sauce on zucchini noodles

Raw Tomato Sauce served over fresh Zucchini Noodles

Here are a few more ways to add the benefits of fresh summer tomatoes to your diet every day:

  • Add fresh tomatoes to your favorite soup or stew.
  • Try a salad of sliced sweet tomatoes, basil leaves and sliced mozzarella cheese. Just sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with a high quality olive oil for a tasty treat.
  • Eat them raw, just like an apple, for a healthy snack.
  • Add chopped raw tomatoes to dips like guacamole and hummus for color and added nutrition.

 

Sarah Young is a wife, mother of three, Certified Health Education Specialist, and healthy living advocate. She has a background in Dietetics and a B.S. in Health, Fitness, and Recreational Resources with a concentration in Health Promotion. She is also a writer for several local and online publications, an ambassador for the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, and a health contributor for ABC 7 News/WJLA. In her spare time, she enjoys running, hiking, gardening, and spending time with her family and their dog, Maple.

What’s Next, Purple Cows?

/in /by
Industrialized agriculture in the U.S. focuses on high yield crops that last well on store shelves which is why you see pretty run of the mill crops at your average grocery store. But, as the consumer, you care about more than that!
You want the best taste, lots of nutrients, and real food.
That’s why we love supporting our local farmers, because they focus on real food, that’s really good tasting and really good for you. One of the best ways to reap the most health benefits from your food is to eat a wide variety of local food. Our suggestion?
Focus on a colorful plate. 
Luckily, our farmers grow some of our favorites in a variety of colors. But, is there a difference in the nutrients you gain from white cauliflower vs. the purple variety? Or, what about multi-colored carrots, they’re all the same right?
Actually, the color of fresh produce is a great indicator of the types of vitamins and minerals it contains. For example, our ever popular purple cauliflower gets its vibrant purple hue from anthocyanins, which are the same flavonoids that give dark berries and red cabbage both their color and their super food health benefits. That means that noshing on purple cauliflower gives you a boost of antioxidants in addition to the fiber, vitamin K and vitamin C you get from traditional white cauliflower.
Colored Carrots
Another perfect example of the different nutrients that can be found in different colors of the same vegetable are multi-colored carrots. Orange carrots have been cultivated and consumed for centuries, but this root vegetable can now be found in reds, yellows, whites, and purple. This breeding process has been about more than aesthetics – it’s about the nutrients too! You can always rely on carrots for their crunchy texture and sweet flavor, but here’s a breakdown of what you can expect based on its color:
  • Orange – The classic carrot has both alpha and beta carotene, which gives it the vibrant orange color. Since carotene helps the body to produce vitamin A, orange carrots are known to promote eye health.
  • Purple – Like purple cauliflower, purple carrots have anthocyanin in addition to the typical alpha and beta carotene pigments. These purple beauties give an added antioxidant boost and can help prevent heart disease.
  • Red – A combination of beta-carotene and lycopene (the nutrient known best for its concentration in tomatoes) gives red carrots their hue. Lycopene is linked to lowering risk for some cancers!
  • Yellow – This light colored variety gets its yellow color from xanthophykks and lutein which are two nutrients that have been linked to both eye health and cancer prevention.
  • White – Absent of color, white carrots aren’t absent of health benefits. The white variety is packed with fiber which helps promote the feeling of fullness and healthy digestion.
As you can see, in this case you can judge a veggie by its cover – to an extent, since there are trends in the vegetable world (lycopene and beta-carotene = red and orange produce, whereas anthocyanin and antioxidants = blue and purple produce.) Regardless of which variety you choose, all fresh vegetables have merit. But hey, if the bright purple cauliflower tempts your kids (or you!) to eat more of it, then that’s the variety you should choose!
The important part is that you eat your fresh produce – we’re just lucky that our local farmers make it easier by growing colorful varieties that are so darn nice to look at.
Have a burning question about local food? Submit it to info@seasonalroots.com, and we’ll answer it! Or, even better, maybe we’ll write a blog about it.

What Size Basket Should I Order?

/in /by

Based on customer feedback, this season we created 3 basket sizes – small, medium, and large, to better suit the needs of households of varying sizes! We can describe to you all day long how many items are in each basket size, but it helps to simply show you.

For our deliveries on June 1 and June 2, here’s what our default baskets looked like:
Small:
Small Box-1
Medium:
Medium Box-1
Large:
Large Box-1
As a reminder, small baskets have room for 4 types of items, medium baskets have room for 8 and large baskets have room for 12. The boxes above are designed for folks who like to be surprised with their default basket, but Members are able to customize their baskets based on their preferences.
Fill your perfect size basket each weekend starting Friday at 2:00 p.m. Learn more at seasonalroots.com

Root to Stem, Root to Stalk: Getting the Most Out of Your Produce

/in /by

Are you getting the most out of your produce each week? Did you know that the leaves, greens, stems, and stalks of many of the vegetables that we tend to throw away are edible and often contain even more beneficial nutrients than their other, more popular, half? Before you toss out the beet greens, carrot tops, and broccoli stalks from this week’s Seasonal Roots basket, consider using these culinary castaways to add texture, interest, and flavor to your next meal.

Here are a few suggestions from One Green Planet to help get you started:

  • Blanch Away the Bitterness – Although you can eat green tops raw, some people might find them a bit bitter. Blanching is a useful technique to help remove any bitter taste. To blanch the greens, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil and drop the greens in. Stir them around a bit. In just a few minutes, the greens will start to soften and become a beautiful, bright color. You don’t want to cook them too long or they will lose that color and get mushy. Then transfer the greens to an ice bath to shock them. This will stop the cooking process and help them keep that beautiful, bright color. If you don’t want to set up an ice bath, at least transfer the greens to a colander and run cold water over them for a minute. When they are cool enough to handle, drain any excess water and continue with your recipe.
  • Make Pesto – While pesto is traditionally made with basil, I often make ours using kale, spinach, or any other greens that I happen to have on hand. This Beet Greens Pesto is a simple way to make use of those leftover greens: In a food processor, combine 4 cups of beet greens (remove the stems), 4 cracked garlic cloves, ½ cup walnuts, 3 Tbs. grated parmesan, ½ tsp. kosher salt and ¼ tsp. black pepper. Process the ingredients while drizzling in up to ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil until you reach the desired consistency. Store the pesto in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  • Make Vegetable Stock – Vegetable stock is a great way to use up any leftover vegetables and their green parts, and it eliminates the fear of bitterness or overcooking. Just add green tops or stalks to into your pot with whatever vegetables, herbs and spices you are using to make your stock and follow your stock recipe directions.
  • Make Smoothies – Smoothies are a great way to use vegetable greens. Try starting off by just adding in a small amount of greens and gradually add in more as your taste adjust. If you are new to smoothies, try adding carrot or beet greens to this Beginner Green Smoothie* to get you headed in the right direction.    * Place the following ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth: ½ cup green grapes, ½ apple (peeled and cut up), 1 banana, 2 cups baby spinach, ½ cup green tea, 1 slice of ginger, ½ cup ice cube.
  • Sauté the Greens – Sautéed greens are an easy and delicious way to put those leftover green tops to use! I love greens sautéed in a pan with olive oil, garlic, shallots and a pinch of red pepper flakes, cooked just long enough to wilt and turn crisp-tender.

Sarah Young is a wife, mother of three, Certified Health Education Specialist, and healthy living advocate. She has a background in Dietetics and a B.S. in Health, Fitness, and Recreational Resources with a concentration in Health Promotion. She is also a writer for several local and online publications, an ambassador for the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, and a health contributor for ABC 7 News/WJLA. In her spare time, she enjoys running, hiking, gardening, and spending time with her family and their dog, Maple.

How Much Rain is Too Much Rain?

/in /by
Potato Field 1-1
If you’ve spent any time in Virginia the past month, you know that sunny days have been few and far between. Some of our farmers received between 8 – 11 inches of rainfall in May alone. We know… you would think that rain would be good for crops. But, this much rain has been too much. The fields above are at Harvest Hill Farm, our packing facility in Montpelier, VA. The corner of the field closest to the camera is also the most low-lying. This means that when we were inundated with rain the ample rainfall gathered there. The result? Drowned potatoes. See how the rest of the field is covered in green? The low-lying corner isn’t doing as well because of how much rain we’ve been receiving. Luckily, it’s a relatively small amount of the overall land that Jimmy at Harvest Hill has planted, but it is a perfect example of how farmers are sometimes at the mercy of Mother Nature.
While at Harvest Hill Farm, Jimmy’s potatoes were affected at the beginning of their cycle, rain has a different affect on crops when they’re already started producing. When we visited Westmoreland Produce this week, we were sad to see that the rain had caused lots of the farm’s cauliflower to spoil right on the plant! Cauliflower that has this much water damage can’t be salvaged, which is one of the challenges small local farmers are faced with every season.
water damaged cauliflower - Field trip-5
Warning, the following image may be disturbing to some berry lovers. The strawberries at Flores Farm on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, have not been able to survive all of these rainy days. Luckily, because of the weekly support from our Members, Gerado and Omar Flores diversity their crops. That means that when their berries don’t survive, they can still harvest lots of other hardier crops. Phew!
rain damaged strawberry - flores
Don’t think that farmers are totally helpless when it comes to the weather though. Those who farm without the aid of greenhouses can combat both too much rain, and not enough. The tomato fields above are also at Harvest Hill Farm. Similarly to the potato fields, any extra rain will run to the low lying part of the field. In this case, that’s a man-made trench that Jimmy dug in the middle of the field. From experience, Jimmy knows that too much rain sitting on the tomato plants will cause root-rot, so he was able to be proactive before the wet weather to help protect the tomatoes plants.
Tomato Field trench-1
While it hasn’t been an issue yet this season, in the case of draught, farmers usually have some sort of irrigation system or plan in place. Of course, too much rain can cause issues but water is crucial for successful crops. Mother Nature is unpredictable, so it’s lucky that our partners are seasoned farmers who know how about the importance of diversifying their crops, and have the know-how to help their crops flourish.

Is it [insert your favorite fruit or veggie] season yet?!

/in /by
In Virginia, we’re really lucky because of the span of seasons we experience each year. A lot of other regions don’t get the same range of temperatures annually. As a result, we also have access to a wide variety of locally grown fruits and vegetables, within just 150 miles! With each passing season, comes a new slate of crops that are ready to be harvested. Some fruits and vegetables have a nice long growing season, and others we have access to for just a few short weeks!
Being committed to eating local food means that sometimes you have to wait for your favorites to come in season. Let me tell you though, absence really does make the heart grow fonder. A peach-less fall, winter, and most of spring, makes the arrival of local peaches each summer just that much sweeter.
Grocery stores have unfortunately tricked lots of folks into thinking that “fresh” fruits and vegetables are available year-round. By importing produce thousands of miles and using cold-storage, grocery stores have access to produce items that just aren’t available locally. Since we source from a small radius of local farms we don’t have peaches in March, strawberries in October, or corn in April.
Just can’t wait for your favorites? We hear ya! Check out Virginia Department of Agriculture’s availability calendar. While we are able to extend some of these seasons by partnering with local greenhouses, this is a great resource to give you an idea when you can expect some of your favorites.
What are YOU most looking forward to this season?
Screen Shot 2016-07-25 at 5.36.55 PM

A Salad Worth Celebrating

/in /by

I love salads, especially during the spring and summer months when fresh ingredients are plentiful and I find myself craving a lighter, more simplistic, fare. I’m also a big fan of healthy dishes that require little prep time, yet they still dress to impress. Bring on those last-minute cookouts and warm weather festivities!

Healthy + Simple + Delicious = A summertime WIN in my book.

This Berry Spinach Salad is that kind of dish. It takes minimal effort to prepare, is full of wholesome, healthy ingredients, and it shouts SUMMERTIME CELEBRATION!

Berry Salad Ingredients copy

Spinach and strawberries were among the bounty of last week’s Seasonal Roots basket, so I decided that this particular salad would be the perfect addition to our family’s Memorial Day dinner. Aside from its deliciousness, the colors fell right in line with the patriotic theme for a day of remembrance.

As with many of the recipes that I follow and share, this one is easily adaptable to your personal preferences or ingredients that you may already have on hand. Don’t have strawberries or blackberries? Blueberries or raspberries will work. Don’t like pecans? Give walnuts a try. No feta? No problem. I’m a fan of crumbled goat cheese, myself. Just don’t skip out on the Strawberry Lime Dressing. If you don’t already have all of the ingredients at home, it’s worth a quick run to your local grocer. Trust me on this one. You don’t want to miss out. It’s the cherry on top!

Berry Spinach Salad with Strawberry Lime Dressing

Salad Ingredients:

        spinach

        sliced strawberries

       blackberries

        ¼ red onion, thinly sliced

        ½ cup candied pecans *

       feta cheese or crumbled goat cheese

Dressing Ingredients:

        ½ cup chopped strawberries

        ¼ cup olive oil

        ¼ cup lime juice

        1 tablespoon poppy seeds

        1 tablespoon honey

        salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

  •     In a large bowl, combine all of the salad ingredients.
  •     Place all of the dressing ingredients into a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Drizzle over salad just before serving.

*For candied pecans: Place pecans, about 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, and a pinch of sea salt into a shallow pan over medium-high heat. Sautee for approximately 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly until pecans are lightly toasted and syrup has caramelized. Remove from heat and spread pecans out on parchment paper to cool and harden.

Enjoy!

Berry Salad 2

Sarah Young is a wife, mother of three, Certified Health Education Specialist, and healthy living advocate. She has a background in Dietetics and a B.S. in Health, Fitness, and Recreational Resources with a concentration in Health Promotion. She is also a writer for several local and online publications, an ambassador for the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, and a health contributor for ABC 7 News/WJLA. In her spare time, she enjoys running, hiking, gardening, and spending time with her family and their dog, Maple.

The Market is Closed?!

/in /by

You: What?! My Market isn’t open! But, I want to check out all the local options!

Us: We hear you! We get as excited as you do to shop the weekly market.

You: So, what gives?

Here’s the deal…Our market changes each week based on what our farmers and artisans are harvesting, raising and baking at any given time. That’s why we can’t post a static menu – it changes too much from one week to the next! But, we know that when you’re deciding from where to purchase your food, you may want a little more information, right?  To give you an idea of what you can expect from Seasonal Roots, here’s what the local options were for our customers last week!

First, folks get to choose a small, medium, or large basket.
 For Members, the basket prices are:
Small Basket (4 produce choices) – $19
Medium Basket (8 produce choices) – $34
Large Basket (12 produce choices) – $40
For Guests, the basket prices are:
Small Basket (4 produce choices) – $24
Medium Basket (8 produce choices) – $36
Large Basket (12 produce choices) – $42
Then, customers fill their basket based on what’s available locally that week.
The basket choices for this week included: asparagus, radishes, several varieties of greens cluster tomatoes, spinach, bok choy, sweet potatoes, blueberries, mint, chives, broccoli, cilantro, spring onions, kale, and a few pastry items! You can mix and match based on your family’s preferences and needs for the week.
market closed 1
Then, top your basket off with some extras.
The list of extras have costs that vary each week, with extra items as inexpensive as $2.50, and with some of our pricier items being our pasture raised meats. Some of the customer favorites from this week? Blueberry muffins, cherry tomatoes, rustic bread, kimchi, garlic hummus, milk, pasture raised eggs, locally roasted coffee, kombucha, cinnamon buns, mushrooms, honey, chioggia beets, colby cheese, granola and mozzarella! That’s not all though, we had over 60 extra items for Members to choose from this week!
market closed 2
Once you place your order over the weekend, we send orders to your local farmers and artisans first thing Monday morning. Then, we pack baskets on Tuesdays for delivery on Wednesday to Northern Virginia, Fredericksburg and Charlottesville. Then, we pack baskets again on Wednesday for delivery on Thursday to greater Richmond, Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach!
With nearly 500 varieties of produce, meat, dairy, baked goods and artisan products over the course of our season – we’re sure you’ll find something (or many things) to tickle your taste buds.
We can’t wait for you to see next week’s menu on Friday.
Your Local Food Enthusiasts, 
 
Seasonal Roots

Strawberry Season – A Taste Of Early Summer

/in /by

It’s Strawberry Season, one of my favorite times of the year.  Some of my fondest summertime memories involve freshly picked strawberries and my Grandmother. Every summer, Grandma and I would go pick strawberries together at a local berry farm. Afterwards, she would take the berries home and make all sorts of delicious strawberry-inspired goodies for our family to enjoy. Strawberry Jam. Strawberry Pie. Strawberry Shortcake. Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream. No wonder I grew up loving strawberry season so much!

I was so excited to find these beautiful berries waiting for our family in last week’s basket, sweet and bursting with the first taste of summer.  After some careful consideration, we decided to enjoy our first batch of the season in its simplest form: washed and straight out of the carton. They were delicious and left me excited for this week’s share.

Whether you plan to eat the whole carton out of hand, or you have a stack of your favorite recipes ready and waiting to be put to use, storing your berries properly will help ensure that they hold up long enough for you and your family to enjoy them. There is nothing more disappointing than finding a basket of moldy berries soon after bringing them home!

3 Rules for Storing Strawberries

  1. Wash as you go.

Wash strawberries only before eating them. This is important for two reasons. Strawberries are like sponges, so once wet, they soak up every bit of moisture, making them more likely to get mushy and spoil faster. Also, wet berries are more apt to get moldy.

  1. Leave the stems on as long as possible.

Keeping the stems on until you’re about to eat the strawberries will prolong their shelf life.

  1. Don’t let one berry spoil the whole bunch.

If you notice any moldy berries in the container, remove them immediately. Mold spreads easily, so it’s best to remove any spoiled berries before they ruin the rest of the bunch.

As for where to store strawberries, it all depends on when you plan to use them.

3 Places to Store Strawberries

  1. Right away? Store on the countertop.

If you plan to use strawberries the day you bring them home, there’s no need to put them in the refrigerator. You can leave them at room temperature on the kitchen counter.

  1. Tomorrow? In the refrigerator.

If you don’t plan to eat your strawberries the day you bring them home, the best place for them is in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. It helps to maintain humidity and keep the berries from losing moisture and becoming dry.

Remove the berries from their original container, and store them whole and unwashed in a partially-closed container lined with paper towels to absorb any excess moisture, preferably in a single layer so they don’t get crushed. They should last up to five to seven days.

  1. This winter? In the freezer.

If you don’t have plans to use strawberries within a few days of bringing them home, your best bet is to freeze them. Remove the stems, halve or slice them if you like, then freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet until solid. Store in an airtight container or a freezer bag.

And just in case you find yourself searching for the perfect strawberry recipe, here are a few of my favorites to check out and get you started. Enjoy!

Strawberry Limeade 

Avocado Strawberry Spinach Salad

Rhubarb and Strawberry Breakfast Crisp

Strawberry Salsa

Balsamic Roasted Strawberries with Toasted PineNuts and Cashew Cream

 Strawberry and Coconut Ice Lollies

Sarah Young is a wife, mother of three, Certified Health Education Specialist, and healthy living advocate. She has a background in Dietetics and a B.S. in Health, Fitness, and Recreational Resources with a concentration in Health Promotion. She is also a writer for several local and online publications, an ambassador for the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, and a health contributor for ABC 7 News/WJLA. In her spare time, she enjoys running, hiking, gardening, and spending time with her family and their dog, Maple.

Garlic Scapes: A Happy Side-Effect

/in /by

Anyone else get as excited as I do on delivery day? Thursdays are starting to feel a lot like Christmas morning, whether I customize my basket or not. I just can’t wait to dive into my Seasonal Roots box and see all of the fresh goodies that are waiting for me.

Last week’s basket was full of kale, several different lettuce varieties, mushrooms, tomatoes, asparagus, cilantro, artisan bread, kombucha, and GARLIC SCAPES. While I was excited about all of the beautiful produce that had been harvested that week, the garlic scapes are what really grabbed my attention. I had never seen a garlic scape before, much less experimented with them in the kitchen. Our family had fun passing them around the dinner table that night, seeing who could come the closest to guessing what this “new” food actually was. Everyone happily took a bite off of a raw stalk for “investigative purposes” and the majority vote was that it was some type of onion (and that it didn’t taste good with a glass of milk!).

With Google on our side, we learned that garlic scapes are basically a happy side-effect of growing garlic. The “scapes” are the stalks that grow from the bulbs of hardneck garlic plants. If left unharvested, they will eventually bloom flowers once the garlic plant fully matures. If harvested before they flower, these edible green stalks are a palative cross between a scallion and……. yep, a clove of garlic.

As you may have already guessed, the scape doesn’t just mimic its bulbous counterpart’s flavor. It also shares many of the same nutritional benefits as garlic. Garlic scapes are a great source of manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and selenium. They have also been linked to numerous health benefits including lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, boosting the immune system, and preventing heart disease and various types of cancer.

Some of the most popular suggestions that I came across for how to use garlic scapes included chopping them up and using them in place of scallions in a salad or as a garnish for soup, lightly sautéing them with greens, adding them into a stir fry, or making a garlic scape pesto.

After some consideration, I decided to add our scapes into one of my daughter’s favorite things: hummus. In less than 10 minutes, we had a new dish to try out and minimal mess to clean up. Served alongside some fresh veggies and homemade pita chips, we had a picnic-style dinner with lots of leftover Garlic Scapes Hummus to enjoy throughout the week.

I’m still looking forward to trying out other garlic scapes recipes in the near future, but this was an easy way to introduce a new food into a familiar family favorite. If you give it a try, let me know what you think.

hummus above recipe

 

Garlic Scapes Hummus

Ingredients:

–        3 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

–        1/3 cup garlic scapes, chopped

–        ½ – ¾ cup tahini

–        ¾ cup fresh lemon juice

–        ¼ cup olive oil

–        ¼ cup water

–        1 ½ teaspoons cumin

–        1 teaspoon salt

–        Ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Place chopped garlic scapes into a food processor and pulse several times.
  2. Add chickpeas, tahini, and lemon juice to the scapes and process. The mixture will be very thick.
  3. Add water and process again.
  4. Slowly add in olive oil while still blending.
  5. Once desired consistency is reached, add cumin, salt, and pepper, and blend.
  6. Serve drizzled with olive oil and cumin, alongside fresh veggies, crackers, or pita chips. Enjoy!

Sarah Young is a wife, mother of three, Certified Health Education Specialist, and healthy living advocate. She has a background in Dietetics and a B.S. in Health, Fitness, and Recreational Resources with a concentration in Health Promotion. She is also a writer for several local and online publications, an ambassador for the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, and a health contributor for ABC 7 News/WJLA. In her spare time, she enjoys running, hiking, gardening, and spending time with her family and their dog, Maple.