LCBO Food and Drink Early Summer 2016

SEASONAL  MYSTERY PRODUCE

Don’t miss locally grown green and white asparagus, strawberries and cherries, fresh from Niagara orchards. For variety, add some leafy greens, English peas, green beans and broccoli.

JUNE

PURSLANE If this succulent herb shows up in your garden don’t pull it, eat it! The fleshy leaves, beloved by chefs, taste like watercress or spinach and are super-nutritious. Add young leaves to potato salad, use them to stuff ravioli or spanakopita instead of spinach, and add a handful to soups and stews.

HASKAP Oh Canada, we have a new berry. It’s big, it’s blue and it tastes like a blueberry, raspberry and blackcurrant rolled into one spicy, sweet-tart mouthful. It’s also prized for its antioxidants and vitamin C. The harvest lasts only two weeks, so much of the crop is sold dried or made into jam, an intense juice or wine. Popular in northern Japan and Russia, the hardy bush was introduced to Saskatchewan in the 1960s and now grows across the country. With more than 35 growers, Ontario is poised to become a haskap hotbed. Purchase your very own haskap (a.k.a. honeyberry) bushes at a local garden centre. Use fresh or frozen haskaps in muffins instead of blueberries, stir into yogurt, top cereal or use to make jam, relish or chutney.

SALICORNIA Found near salt water, these pretty green twigs are also known as sea asparagus, sea beans or saltwort. Their light crunch, bright sea-salt taste and vivid green colour add a burst of colour and saltiness to seafood dishes and pasta. Or serve raw as a salty snack.

GREEN GARLIC It may look like an overgrown green onion, but this “new” crop is simply a young garlic plant pulled from the ground before the cloves form. Trim the root and any tough green leaves and use the whole stalk to add a delicate garlicky flavour to early summer dishes.

ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS On the end of every baby squash is a showy yellow flower considered a culinary delicacy in Europe. To serve Italian style, stuff the blossoms with a bit of mozzarella and Parmesan, dust with flour, dip in egg and fry in olive oil. Or add torn leaves to a green salad.

PHOTO CREDITS: HASKAP: WWW.HASKAPA.COM; GREEN GARLIC: ©ISTOCK.COM/BURIY; ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS: ©ISTOCK.COM/URSULA ALTER; PURSLANE: ©ISTOCK.COM/DIRK RICHTER; SALICORNIA: ©ISTOCK.COM/FLOORTJE

68  FOOD & DRI NK EARLY SUMMER 2016