In the fourth week of my CSA share, I found some more things that were completely new to me. There were snap peas, greens, garlic scapes and something that looked like an onion—a purplish white bulb.
After talking it over and researching with my boss Tricia, we discovered that it was, indeed, a type of onion. I had never seen one like this; it was really cool to learn something new about a type of food that I thought I knew, and liked very much.
So this week I made something combining the garlic scapes and the onions. I love brussels sprouts, so I thought it would be fun to spice up the sprouts one night with a little extra something special: baking brussel sprouts in the oven with garlic scapes and onions.
I first lined the brussels sprouts up on a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil. Then, I chopped the onions and garlic scapes.
Garlic scapes are just like garlic cloves – but they look like scallions. I diced the scapes into thin slivers. Once I thought I had enough to give the brussels sprouts just the right amount of flavor, I sprinkled them on top.
I then moved on to the bulbed onions, which are just like normal onions. They look the same when they are cut, but are smaller. So, I cut them just like I would a normal onion and laid the little circle cutouts on top of the brussels sprouts, too.
I put the brussels sprouts in the oven to bake, soaking in the nice onion and garlic flavors for about 20 minutes. The brussels sprouts came out perfectly blackened.
I placed them on a plate next to some beautiful salmon and quinoa. I took a bite and instantly fell in love with the flavors. The garlic scapes and onions gave the sprouts the perfect amount of flavor; it was in no way overpowering and so easy to do.
Garlic scapes are now one of my favorite items to throw into anything. You can simply slice them up and throw them in with anything from scrambled eggs to pork tenderloin! The options are endless.
So I absolutely loved my share this week and I have found a new love – garlic scapes.
Margaret Sheets is the 2016 events intern at Taste the Local Difference® and she is a senior at Albion College. You can contact her at [email protected]