Shoots are new for us this year, and we've been having fun experimenting with all of the different ways they can be used. Here are a few of our favorites.
Salad
The fastest and easiest way to eat any of these shoots is to throw them into a salad, and add any dressing on top.
Here we mixed sunflower shoots and microgreens with napa cabbage, purple cabbage, and salad turnips.
Roasted Vegetables
We love roasted vegetables. They are easy to prepare and all of our storage vegetables taste delicious roasted. Shoots add extra flavor, color, and texture.
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, carrots, and beets are some of our favorites here. Turn your oven to 425 F. while you wait for it to warm up cut your vegetables up however you like. Throw them in a pan, add a little salt, pepper, oil or butter of your choice (we often use olive oil) some herbs or other seasonings if you like, mix to coat with oil, and stick them in the oven for 30-45 minutes. Check regularly and stir as needed to keep anything from burning. When the vegetables are tender they are ready to eat. A few minutes before you take them out of the oven toss in some shoots (pea, corn, or sunflower) and you're ready to go.
Fried Rice
This is my favorite way to use up leftover rice from a previous meal. Although it doesn't have to be leftover...
In a wok or frying pan, sauté up some garlic and/or onions, and add in your favorite sausage (or if you are feeling a bit more adventurous, mix spices of your choice with ground pork to make your own sausage). Cook sausage well, then add any other vegetables you want (here I used carrots and frozen corn), chopped in small cubes or slices to cook quickly, and added in in order of which needs the most cooking time. When vegetables are ready, add in rice and shoots, mix, and leave heat on just long enough to warm everything up.
For a meat free alternative, scramble some eggs and add them in after cooking the vegetables.
Taco, Hamburger, Sandwich
An easy way to add greens to lunch and dinner.
Not too much to explain, just add your shoots of choice to a taco (or burrito), a burger, or any sandwich and enjoy.
Pesto
We haven't tried this with other shoots yet, but sunflower shoots make a beautiful pesto.
I put sunflower shoots, garlic, olive oil, walnuts (you could use any nut, and next time I will try sunflower seeds), parmesan cheese, and a bit of salt in a food processor, and voila! Similar to basil pesto, but with just a slightly different twist.
We hope you enjoy these ideas. We'd love to hear your favorite ways to eat shoots!