Jackpot! Garlic Scapes!!

Today, as we do on most Sundays from May 1 through the end of November, we went to our favorite farmers' market. We like to be there by opening time, since a lot of the vendors tend to run out of my favorite items fairly early on. Today we actually got there about 15 minutes early. This gave me ample time to make the rounds to see what everyone was offering before deciding upon which vendor I'd start with.

At vendor 1, I found some lovely strawberries, asparagus & soil-grown greenhouse tomatoes. I was off to a good start, and very happy about it!

Vendor 2 had the mint I needed for the sun tea that we drink gallons of in the warm weather. As I reached for the little bunch of mint, my eye landed upon the jumbled mass of stalks (seriously, it strongly resembles a small, green, tangled-up octopus) that I would recognize anywhere- Garlic Scapes! This was *the* find of the visit, and I bought the only 2 packages they had.

Since some of you may be unfamiliar with garlic scapes, here's the scoop...

What we all recognize as a head of garlic is the bulbous root. I'm pretty sure all of us have found that forgotten head of garlic, sitting in the pantry for so long that it has actually started to sprout a green shoot. That shoot is called the scape. Scapes are edible when they're young. As the plant matures, the scape grows tough and becomes pretty much inedible.

They are green stems that twist and curl, and usually have a little bulge on the end. (That bulge eventually turns into a garlic bulb.) They smell like very mild, sweet garlic. The flavor is that of garlic without the bite. I am not doing them justice right now, because I'm a bit tired, but if you ever see them, snap them up!

The thing about garlic scapes is that they're usually only available from this one vendor at my farmers' market- I've never seen them anywhere else- and they're only available for 3-4 weeks out of the year. I usually don't realize they're available until the last week. Part of the reason for today's major excitement is that this is the FIRST week he's had them! This means I have another 2-3 weeks to be able to get them!!

So you're probably wondering, "What exactly does one do with a garlic scape?"

My answer would be to get creative. If the flavors of garlic and onion would work well in a recipe, why not give the scapes a try there? I have used them in grilled veggies, frittatas, stir fries and salads. I also think they'd make an amazing pesto. Oh, and they lend a really nice flavor to soups and stews, as well. The vendor from whom I buy them says that they pickle them, but I've never tried that. Honestly, they all get eaten before I could even consider doing something like that with them!

So, in the coming week, I'll be attempting to create a recipe that fits in with our allergy/sensitivity restrictions and uses the scapes. Hopefully I'll come up with something tasty to share with you soon.