Eat Your Microgreens

A few weeks ago I was at the beach with a group of friends. We got to talking about interesting foods, new trends, and so on, and someone mentioned that microgreens were on all the menus now. What are microgreens, they wanted to know? I told them as best I could, then came home to research the official definition so that I was sure they had correct information.

Microgreens are tender and tangy lettuce and mustard greens that are chopped off young, usually when they are only an inch or so high at the most and barely a few weeks old. They're smaller and younger than baby greens, which tend to be harvested later when the plants have grown a good three inches tall or more.

Salads have always been popular in our state. California is the only place where truck drivers eat fresh salads without being called wimpy, said one food historian. Crab Louis, green goddess dressing and Cobb salad were all created in California. Californians have discovered there are many tantalizing flavors in salad greens from bitter to tangy to peppery. Beginning in the 1970's, products like arugula, mesclun and radicchio slipped into the language, and the insistence on fresh, local produce became a hallmark of California cuisine.

Some of the new microgreens you might look for in your local grocery or farmers' market are fennel, arugula, spinach, chrysanthemum, beet greens and mustard greens. They are thin, delicate plants. Thomas Keller from French Laundry in Yountville and Bouchon in Los Angeles, feels that microgreens offer chefs a lot of flexibility and range in putting together diverse flavor elements.

Several years ago, microgreens were difficult to find, but with world class chefs demanding new and interesting products, they are abundant today. Many growers in the Salinas Valley, known as "the salad bowl of the world" are now producing microgreens. Look for them on the menu next time you enjoy fine dining, or buy them at your local farmers market. They add a delicate, tasty addition to plain lettuce.