You can categorize this in “Nothing says I’m over 30 like…”
I told my handsome husb to go to the grower’s market last weekend and when he asked if I wanted anything specifically, out of my mouth leapt the following words… “If you feel like getting me a lil’ treat I would love some tasty little sprouts.” And I meant it. From the depth of my veggie loving, grown adult soul. Nothing would make me happier than crunching on some little delicate greens that could be shrubbery for a Polly Pocket (& the fact that I know what that is… also an over 30 sign. shrug.)
So that’s how I ended up here. In my kitchen. With an array of three containers of beautiful sprouts from Crisp Microgreens
For those of you that go to the market often, you may recognize these cute, single serving containers of luxury greens from Crisp Microgreens. I call them luxury because they are definitely a splurge (3 for $20,) but after a hard week this was my “I earned it” treat.
Because sprouts like these are quite pricy, you want to get ones that will work as an addition of both texture AND flavor to whatever you’re using them with. Because of this I would not necessarily put them in a green salad, where other greens will likely mask the unique texture, but they are perfectly in home as an interesting addition to an excellent sandwich or as a note of freshness in a pasta salad. They are also especially good as a green garnish to a bite-sized h’or deouvres. <–lol if I spelled/used that right I should get a prize.
I used my sprouts on my Summer Soba Salads last week, but not before tasting them and comparing the flavors. Read below to see my rankings and thoughts on each 🙂
Crisp Microgreens Taste Test
IN THIRD PLACE…. Spicy Mix!
When I tasted this the first thought I had was “THATS SPICY.” Which honestly… yes… its called spicy mix. This mix had radish and mustard sprouts. To me it just tasted very, very strongly of the kind of spice that you get from radishes. The mustard clearly added a lot of spicy punch, but without much extra flavor variety, in my opinion. The spice was overwhelming by itself and the texture of this one was my least favorite of the three.
I put it aside in my fridge and used it last… That being said, when I did get around to using it in a salad later, I liked it a lot more. The strong flavor will stand up nicely to something with a lot of acid and although it wasn’t my favorite of the three, I very nearly placed it above my second place choice because of how much more interesting it was when I added it to another dish
IN SECOND PLACE… Metabolism Mix!
This one had the same radish kick as the Spicy Mix, but it had the benefit of having a texture that was slightly more noticeable. This mix had brussel, radish, and cabbage sprouts in it. The flavor was significantly more “green” and vegetal than the other two, but it still had a nice little kick from the radish. There’s this nice, soft chew to nicely textured sprouts which this one had.
Of all of the sprouts, it added perhaps my favorite texture, but the flavor was more muted when I added it to my salad. This sprout would be nice if you wanted to add some green freshness and texture without introducing too strong of a flavor element
IN FIRST PLACE… Wasabi Mix!
You guessed it… this one has wasabi greens in it (and cabbage as well.) I just loved these sprouts! The cabbage has a nice texture and neutral green flavor and the wasabi tastes like wasabi (I know.. duh. haha.) I adore wasabi, so this one might not be for everyone, but it adds such a nice zing to my salad and I also loved the contrasting texture of the greens. My favorite sprout textures are “soft chew” and “light stringy” & this set of greens had both. I liked how this mix tasted great on its own, but also had enough flavor to add something special and interesting to my salad.
Remember! Microgreens like these are expensive because they have difficult, labor intensive growing conditions. They don’t yield a lot of greens for the amount of growing space that they take up and there’s a lot of extensive care neccessary in santizing the growing mats and replacing soil in the growing space. They are not meant to replace your lettuces and such… unless you are made of gold, in which case be my guest. They are, however, definitely worth an occasional splurge especially if you are pairing them with delicious seasonal produce and goodies from our grower’s market.
AND if you’re gonna take the plunge and splurge on some of these tasty greens, I hope that you’ll consider doing so by shopping local at Crisp Microgreens 🙂 (They come to the West Chester Grower’s Market most Saturdays!)