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Small Ingredients with a Big Pay-Off
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Throughout the years, seed catalogs and menus have announced the arrival of new fascinating fruits and vegetables to the culinary world. One of the latest trends is to “think small.” People are finding that mini or baby vegetables or fruits are tender, cook quickly, and are beautiful to serve.
This spring the new craze is microgreens. These mighty midgets are starting to appear in supermarkets and container gardens. They are becoming popular because they’re a year-round crop, grow quickly, and easy on the budget. Known for their plate appeal and nutritional value, they are becoming the new trend with chefs, foodies, and families. So, Microgreens, Mini Fruits and Vegetables, and Misfits are all on our website menu.
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Crusty Chicken Caprese Burgers
Crusty Chicken Caprese Burgers
About the Recipe: Italian mixed microgreens add fresh Italian herb flavors to the crispy crusted chicken burgers, that are topped with soft fresh mozzarella and juicy tomatoes. Combine that with their outstanding flavor and a bonus of healthy phytonutrients, these burgers are a wonderful spring surprise.
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Supermarket Microgreens
Supermarket Microgreens
At some supermarkets, Microgreens can be purchased in containers. As you can see, our supermarket had three different varieties that we purchased with a mixture of sprouts. We enjoyed the Italian mixture the best.
Supermarket Microgreens
Make sure they are fresh and have not spoiled or become moldy. Spoiled microgreens can become ugly.
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Grow Your Own in Two Weeks – All Year Around
Grow Your Own Microgreens
Link to Kitchen Garden Kit Info
Grow Your Own Microgreens – Early Wonder Beet Microgreen Seeds Planted – Day One
“Early Wonder Beet” Microgreens – 7 days after planting
“Early Wonder Beet” Microgreens – 30 days after planting
Microgreen Beet Salad Harvested from our Trays Above
We purchased a “Botanical Interests” Kitchen Garden Kit at our local health food store that had all the ingredients needed to grow your own microgreens It took only 4 days from sowing the seeds in the plastic container to have a multiplicity of sprouts poking their heads above the soil. The final picture above shows the sprouts 30 days after planting and included in a side dish ready to eat. Doing it this way, you know they are fresh and you know what you are getting.
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Garden Greens ‘n Beans Bisque
Garden Greens ‘n Beans Bisque
About the Recipe: Tender baby greens create a creamy rich, green soup filled with cannellini beans and Italian flavor. Adding the mixed Italian microgreens makes this soup a super star of nutrition. The garnish of crispy onions adds a light crunch and zesty flavor.
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Spicy Spring Garden Salad with Microgreens
Spicy Spring Garden Salad with Microgreens
About the Recipe: The mild cabbage flavor of kohlrabi blends with zesty radish slices and tiny cucumber rounds. A quick chilling time in the refrigerator makes the dressing creamy as it combines with the vegetable juices. Serve over a bed of veggie microgreens for extra flavor and crunch.
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Big Delicious Planet – Catering, Canteen, Urban Farm
Located in Chicago, Illinois
4-Star Certified Green Restaurant and Greenest Caterer in America
Big Delicious Planet was founded in 1994 and evolved into a highly successful full-service urban farm-to-table operation that provides high-quality food, eye-catching presentations, and personalized service. They offer catering, special events’ dining, the farm dinner series, and have a café called the Canteen that is a hotspot for the Chicago community of West Town for a quick breakfast or delicious lunch special.
Entrance to Canteen at Big Delicious Planet – Chicago
Big Delicious Planet has catered to thousands of the most distinguished clients and discriminating palates: Senator Barack Obama, Sting, Elton John, Donatella Versace, Chef Rick Bayless, Neil Young, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, Jimmy Buffet, Metallica, and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama – (Source – Big Delicious Planet Website)
Urban Farm at Big Delicious Planet Canteen & Catering
The business started as a simple plan for a small organic garden and turned into an urban farm with 60 raised beds and an apiary. They now plan their menus around Chicago’s growing season and the crops they harvest at the time of an event.
Link to Big Delicious Planet Website
Lucas Chamberlain – “The Farmer” at Big Delicious Planet Cateen & Catering
Urban Farmer – Lucas Chamberlain
One of the most unique things about their business is that they have their own urban farm growing organic vegetables and even have a farmer on staff.
When we met Lucas Chamberlain, he was working on one of their raised organic soil beds. He told us about different varieties of vegetables, herbs, fruits, and edible flowers they grow outside while their microgreens are grown inside their kitchen. As we toured the farm, we also saw some busy beehives in the corner that provide a sweet supply of honey and pollinate the garden.
Lucas was hired in 2015 and oversees the entire operation from seed to harvest. He has expanded their organic agricultural program to more than 140 varieties of 41 crops.
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Mini Veggies for Urban Gardening in Small Spaces
Dwarf Vegetables – Many are Suitable for Container Gardening
Goal: Create and Stretching a small garden space
Ideal Conditions: full sun, well-drained soil, away from big trees and shrubs, close to a water source, reasonable level ground.
Suggestions to Try:
- Plant a fast-growing crop with a slower growing crop.
Examples – radishes and carrots - Look for dwarf varieties
- Make a raised bed garden
- Improve drainage of water
- Make sure bottom of container keeps excess water from roots
- Community gardens many times rent a small plot for gardening.
Link to Purdue University Extension Service – Rosie Lerner
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Lettuce Greens with Smoky Spiced Pecans and Strawberry Vinaigrette
Lettuce Greens with Smoky Spiced Pecans and Lima Berry Vinagrette
About the Recipe: Sweet strawberries add their flavor to a strawberry lime light vinaigrette. Serve this springtime salad over crisp mixed baby lettuce sprinkled with tart cranberries and creamy goat cheese crumbles. Tossing in some smoky spiced pecans adds a delightful crunch.
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Marinated Young Spring Vegetables
Marinated Spring Vegetables
About the Recipe: I like the idea that any baby vegetables can be used to create this colorful side dish. Baby vegetables cook quickly in the microwave on high power, and they are naturally tender, so no peeling is necessary. Let your wild style create a fun veggie dish.
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Green Endive Boats with Feta Filled Black Olive Salad
Green Endive Boats with Feta Filled Black Olive Salad
About the Recipe: These appetizers will disappear quickly, so you might want to prepare a double recipe. Tender light green and blushing pink endive leaves are filled with crumbles of feta cheese, chopped walnuts, black olives, pickled red peppers, fresh green parsley and drizzled with a lively lemon dressing. Simply delicious!
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Oven Roasted Pot Roast with Baby Vegetables
Oven Roasted Pot Roast with Baby Vegetables
About the Recipe: Tender beef pot roast and soft flavorful vegetables dripping with warm pan juices make a perfect comfort meal. It’s a memory maker dinner from years past but updated with bright spices and tiny tender veggies.
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Fiesta Tomatoes and Honey Corn Salad
Fiesta Tomatoes and Honey Corn Salad
About the Recipe: This salad combines tomato, corn, and pepper flavors, drizzled with a honey mustard pepper dressing. It’s easy to prepare and explodes with color and flavors.
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Roasted Salt Crusted Petite Potatoes
Roasted Salt Crusted Petite Potatoes
About the Recipe: The outer skin of the potatoes has a lightly salted taste, and the inside will be flavored with coriander, mustard, and rosemary. The potatoes under the salt are very tender and moist. This dish can be served at an informal or outdoor party. We placed them partly open around the outside of a prepared green and tomato salad.
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Early Spring Root Vegetables Stew
Early Spring Root Vegetables Stew
About the Recipe: The vegetable stew combines young tender carrots, turnips, and potatoes with black tea–immersed prunes with a flavorful soy sauce broth. The cooked radishes add a beautiful color and delightful flavor. What a collage of flavors!
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Mini Banana Brunch Puff Pancakes
Mini Banana Brunch Puff Pancakes
About the Recipe: The puffy omelet size pancakes are light and fluffy and filled with a light banana flavor. The tropical cakes can be garnished with pineapples, bananas, and flaked coconut. They would even be delicious made into smaller pancake sizes. Happy tropical holiday!
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Sparkling Ice Green Tea with Mint Oranges and Ginger
Sparkling Ice Green Tea with Mint Oranges and Ginger
About the Recipe: Orange ginger flavored green tea tastes delicious and has many nutritional benefits. It is excellent for digestion and adds a sunny sparkle to the day. Add some ice cubes and mint leaves to create a refreshing summer drink.
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Misfits
Misfits – Undersized Vegetables For Sale at Meijer Supermarkets
Misfits – Purchased at Meijer Supermarket
Misfits is a committed, year-round program that offers four to eight produce types at a time, depending on what’s in season—they include curled-up cucumbers, misshapen mandarins, and bent bell peppers. The produce sells for 20 to 40 percent less than conventionally attractive fruits and vegetables.
A visit to our local Meijer Supermarket, known for its quality fruits and vegetables, brought us right into what is one of the most exciting sustainability programs.
As we selected produce to use for the recipes we provide on our website each month, I saw a bin-like table called MISFITS. On the top, were some bags of small apples, oranges, and avocados. Looking them over, they were small but looked fresh. A bag of each joined our cart. The bonus was I could get more fruit in each bag and saved money. It was a win-win for me as a customer.
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Krispy Quick Baby Baked Apples
Krispy Quick Baby Baked Apples
About the Recipe: It’s a baked apple and apple crisp wrapped up in one sweet treat. It doesn’t contain any refined sugar but uses natural fruits to sweeten the dessert and almond butter in place of butter. It’s filled with natural apple flavors, a touch of cinnamon. and topped with an oat-nut crisp crunch. Serve it with dollops of your favorite chilled yogurt.
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