The Union Square Greenmarket is Almost Tolerable Again

The construction on the north end of Union Square seems to be finishing up, so the Wednesday Greenmarket is almost bearable again (I'm glad it's so popular, but I'm tired of the hipsters who elbow me while vying for vegetables. Not pleasant...). I'm dying for fresh, local things and had heard that ramps were available, so I gave Tony a call and we ventured forth.

While there we tasted numerous sprouts: radish (nice and spicy!), sunflower (delicate), arugula (which I have in my window anyway), and more. But I skipped all of them in favor of baby bok choy (truly baby, like three-leaves, just bigger than sprouts), local asparagus, and two bunches of ramps. And cheese bread...


For dinner, we revisited the potato/ramp pancakes from last year, which I think were even better this year because I chopped the ramps (bulbs, stalks, and leaves) into larger pieces.

We also made a wonderful raw spring salad comprising asparagus stalks cut into little thin discs (stealing a Times idea), bok choy sprouts (which I highly recommend--they're soooo delicate), and thinly sliced ramps (the entire plant, from bulb to leaf) tossed with olive oil, hot pepper-infused oil, lemon juice, and Maldon salt.

We ended up with a feast, serving those two dishes along with a simple grilled lamb seasoned with sea salt and asparagus tips quickly sautéed in some of the olive oil/lemon mixture.

Delicious. I love springtime!