#spring vegetables

Now that we are in the middle of April, I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of ramps at your local farmers’ market. If not, then blame all the chefs and hipster home cooks for hogging it all for themselves. Food enthusiasts go CRAZY for this leafy looking scallion.

Actually they’re wild leeks…cousins, in the onion family. Native in the forests of the east coast and Canada, they break through soil in the early part of spring. They’re high in vitamin C and have a garlicky, oniony flavor that’s pungent. Really delicious and versatile. You can use them anywhere you would use scallions or spring onions. 

Roast or grill them whole. Make a pesto out of them with walnuts and pecorino cheese. Batter ‘em up and fry them whole..or no batter, making the leaves crispy. At work, we pickled them! OMG, I just thought of making kimchi out of them. Put ramps on your pizza, toast, scrambled eggs, oooh how about compound butter!

The only thing that sucks about them are the price. At the farmers’ market in Studio City, a vendor had them for $15 a pound! But that’s hella ramps. And they weren’t that good looking either…it was 1pm and all the early birds got best pick. The ones in the photo are from work. Aren’t they gorgeous? They taste as good as they look too!