Es-SCAPE from reality

Garlic scapes are good.
Garlic scapes are great.
I love the flavor that they gave to the food that we ate.

Lame poem for a delicious (and pretty) vegetable. Last night I chopped them up like scallions and used them in the following recipes...




Spinach and Kale w/ scapes: Simple - spinach and kale sauteed in olive oil with red pepper flakes, nutmeg and the aforementioned scapes. Verdict: I really liked the delicate garlic flavor the scapes added to the dish. Toddler: ate a good five or six handfuls before she looked at me with fear in her eyes as if to say "Dear God woman... are these vegetables??? I certainly can't be caught enjoying something green or I will lose all my street cred at daycare!" at which point she promptly threw the green mass in her hand on the floor and spit on it. Husband: declined to even try any. His loss, and it gave me a nice big batch of leftovers for lunch today.


My version of a Panzanella (Tuscan bread salad): This was supposed to be grilled pizza margherita, but I messed up and put too little flour on my pizza peel and then let the dough sit on it for so long that it actually became one with the wood. When I tried to slide the pizza onto the grill it became a crazy messed up dough log that I immediately christened "crazy messed up dough log." (Many points for originality, ehh?) So I took the ingredients that were supposed to go on top of the pizza (fresh basil, fresh mozzy balls, grape tomatoes and chopped scapes) and mixed them in a bowl with some basil oil and balsamic. The when the crazy messed up dough log was scraped from the grill, I chopped it up in to small pieces and tossed it with the other stuff while it was still hot. Made for a nice, kind of melty but not too melty, salad. Verdict: Toddler was unable to overcome the fact that she was NOT getting pizza after all and threw every handful on the floor, saying "No pizza mommy" in a voice dripping with disdain for my grilling abilities. She did suck down about 15 tomatoes though. Husband: Commented that it was "freakin good" and "deceptively simple." I thought it was quite good and it was great as leftovers today. I would totally make it again for company... could be a full meal with a protein (grilled chix or shrimp maybe?) in there.