5.2.17 Wisconsin Grown | Part 3

After several days of warm, dare I say, almost summery weather last week, I was nearly convinced that summer was all but here. Which in retrospect I realize is pretty silly; it’s still very much spring after all. As you can imagine, I was knocked out of my summertime reverie this week by a run of several days of cold, rainy, gray weather; weather I fear we still have yet to escape. Nevertheless, we still went to the farmers’ market because, how could we not?

Never fear though, this weekend the weather is looking to be distinctly more summer-like again. And until then, I’ll be dealing with the chill and rain by keeping busy in the kitchen cooking up all the new produce we managed to get our hands on this week. Here’s what I’ll be making:

More Rhubarb this week means more bars - this time, we’re whipping up a batch of Smitten Kitchen’s Almond Rhubarb Picnic Bars. And, no, there is absolutely no way mine will look as beautiful as Deb’s perfect ombre herringbone rhubarb masterpiece. But hey, they’ll still be delicious.

For our first Asparagus for the season, I’ll be going the spicy route and making some of this Masala Asparagus. Add some rice and a nice piece of roasted salmon and we’ll call it a meal.

What looks like more scallions this week is actually Green Garlic, a favorite of mine this time of year. Green garlic is a young garlic plant harvested before the bulb develops; it tastes like garlic (because it is), but in a fresher, milder way than mature garlic cloves. This time of year, I like to use it in place of garlic in any recipe I can think of for a bit of a springy twist.

Another week of lovely Ramps; this week’s bunch, along with some of that green garlic,  is slated for Pesto, which we’ll be eating atop scrambled eggs, slathered on toast, mixed into rice bowls, and probably several dozen other ways, because pesto is kindof the best.

I couldn’t resist grabbing a big bag of Spicy Salad Greens, full of spicy, bitter things like mustard greens and arugula. They’re going to go great in this Bitter Greens and Bacon Quiche with Feta and Parmesan, plus, we’ll hopefully have some extra greens for a spicy salad to go with it.

Morel Mushrooms made their debut at the farmer’s market this week, and of course, I bought some. Morels are hella expensive, but I’m also not great at foraging for them (though I’ve found a few here and there in the past), so I usually pony up once a year and buy them at the market. Because, as expensive as they are, they’re really good. Especially when you go fairly simple with them, as in these Morels on Toast. Bonus, this recipe is another great place to use green garlic.

I love stocking up on Shallots, which I find myself cooking with A LOT. Although crispy, crunchy fried shallots may be my favorite. Pretty much anything is better when topped with this stuff.