Hot Shots - May 5, 2023
Hot Shots - May 5, 2023
Severin R-B Danieli
Hello all,
Long time no talk - I have missed you!
What have I been up to these past two and a bit weeks? Let me tell you.
We've been looking to move, and finding a place is never an easy feat, we've been to Whistler, the Sunshine Coast, celebrated anniversaries, birthdays and been busy bees at work - you name it, we've done it!
Now we are in beautiful May, always a month I look forward to. I hear rumours of cherries and apricots coming very soon (I know, I am so excited for cherries it is not normal), and more stone fruit coming in mid-May. On the greens front, of course contingent on weather, but it is looking like mid-later May we will be getting some chards, lettuce and dandelions from Two EE's. A lot of Washington apples have arrived at Disco, earlier this week we received pallets worth of fuji's, gala's and pink lady's, and a few watermelon bins! A coworker cut a watermelon open for a taste test, and the flavour was unexpectedly rich, juicy and fresh.
We've got a few fun items here at Disco that signal spring movement, and we've got many beautiful months of produce coming up.
Fiddleheads.
These wild crafted greens come from West Coast Wild Foods, and are foraged in our very own Pacific Northwest forests. Here is the link to their website as they have some fun videos and recipes.
Plucked from the ostrich fern, fiddleheads are a spring delicacy, available only from March to May. Fair warning, these beautiful furled fronds need to be boiled or steamed before consuming, and then usually sautéed.
Recipes include adding fiddleheads to a simple pasta dish, baked in with your choice of soft cheese on some puff pastry, or tossed with garlic, lemon and butter as a side dish.
West Coast Wild Foods also supplies us with nettles this time of year, so call in and chat with one of our lovely sales team members to inquire further!
Rainbow Chard.
One of my favourite greens to look at, but admittedly not one of my favourites to eat. I still haven't quite figured out the best way to eat these, but have tried raw in salad, sautéed with other veggies, or added into soups.
Chard is a member of the beet family (who knew that?), and is one of the most antioxidant rich foods. The abundant beta-carotene, vitamin K, A E and C make chard a superfood.
As we await the arrival of some local chard, we are playing host to some gorgeous chard from Cal-O Organic Farm. This farm started in 1983 with just a quarter acre of lettuce, and now, three decades later, Cal-O is growing 65 seasonal and year round vegetables, with their organic acreage, having started in 2001, growing every year since. Cal-O boasts the title of the largest organic vegetable producer in the USA.
Watermelon.
H20 bins have made their first appearance of 2023 at Disco, and are cutting perfectly. Once cut open, the colour is a bit on the paler side, but the flavour is as if it was the deepest crimson watermelon ever cut open.
Watermelons have more than 1,000 varieties and are cultivated worldwide. Wild watermelons were first found in Uan Muhuggiag, a prehistoric site in Libya, around 3500 BC. Watermelons were then domesticated in north-east Africa and cultivated in Egypt around 2000 BC. The watermelon we know and love spread across the Mediterranean during Roman times.
Collards.
Coming from Ralphs, one of my personal favourite suppliers throughout the spring and summer, collards are another green that are perhaps overlooked, but pack a more nutritious punch than even kale.
Kale has higher iron, and is rich in vitamin A, B, E and K, while collards have more fibre and protein than kale, as well as vitamins A, B, E, and K. The most successful way I have used collards has been in smoothies or in place of a wheat/corn wrap.
I was recently up in Whistler with my sister and nephew, and we stopped by Green Moustache Whistler. They have absolutely delicious smoothies, especially their magnum smoothie - which contains banana, greens, spirulina, lemon zest and water kefir. Simple, so fresh, and the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Even my nephew was loving it, alternating between the Magnum and the Dali (banana, mixed berries, water kefir). After a huge sip of the magnum smoothie, he put his little glass down, grinning broadly, with a glistening green moustache on his upper lip. My sister looked at him and said, 'you've got a green moustache!' And suddenly, the name of the cafe made sense.
Rhubarb.
A springtime fav, a prehistoric looking plant, the second of two star ingredients in my favourite pie.
Also from Ralphs, rhubarb is available from spring through early fall. During this summer, any time you are at a potluck, a picnic, a birthday, or whatever kind of celebration or gathering, I can almost guarantee that there will be a strawberry rhubarb pie on the dessert table.
Rhubarb has historic roots in Chinese culture as far back as 2700 BC, was accidentally found in the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, England in 1815, and in 1947 rhubarb was classified in a court in Buffalo, New York as fruit, as it had previously been known as a vegetable.
Thanks for following along this week, it feels very good to be back!
I am going to Shania Twain tonight with my sister, and I am beyond excited. This weekend looks pretty relaxing, with some family time and a friend’s dinner.
The trees around Disco are starting to fill out with their bright green fresh leaves, and the gardeners are dusting off their tools and starting to plan out their gardens.
I made my way to a plant nursery this past weekend, and bought a few packets of seeds, and a few seedlings of cherry tomatoes, lacinato kale, cucumbers and basil. This weekend I am hoping to map out which planter box will be home to which plant. Now we just need a few days of sun... which doesn't look likely on our temperate rainforest coast.
Have a lovely weekend and I'll chat with you all next week!
Big love,
Severin R-B Danieli