Do you know what a garlic scape is? They are the green flower bud of the garlic plant and they get harvested to promote the bulb development below. They can be used interchangeably with regular garlic. Since it is the season of the summer salad, I figured a nice dressing was in order. So today, I give you my super tangy garlic scape vinaigrette.
Community Supported Agriculture: A great way to support local farmers
But before I get into that, I would like to welcome you to Season 2 of my Community Supported Agriculture Series. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is all about supporting local farms by buying a share of their harvest before the growing season and receiving farm fresh produce every week for a certain period of time. As I did last year, I purchased a summer farm share at Clark Farm in Carlisle, MA.
Each week I arrive at the farm to pick up amazing fresh salad greens, kale, swiss chard, napa cabbage, carrots, broccolini, strawberries, zucchini, and so much more. It’s such a relaxing summer ritual. Arriving at the farm brings a sense of peace to my sometimes-hectic life. It's a chance to slow down and appreciate a slower pace even if only briefly.
I highly encourage you to look into any CSA opportunities within your community. I know it can get a little pricey depending on where you are. However, you can always split a share with a friend and make it your weekly “thing” to pick up your CSA together. I did this years ago with a friend of mine and we loved it. Most farms offer different size shares to suit different needs.
Are you local here in Massachusetts in the Carlisle/Lexington/Concord area? Great! If you don’t have a CSA share, you can still enjoy the amazing organic vegetables of Clark Farm by visiting the Clark Farm Market in Carlisle, MA.
This tangy garlic scape vinaigrette is a great go-to salad dressing
If you're a regular reader of my website - I know someone out there is... right?!?! Well anyway, you may already know that I am a Little Miss Picky Pants about salad dressing. I can't stand most store-bought dressings and haven't purchased one in years. I prefer making my own and it is really easy to do. There are a lot of benefits to doing this.
Benefits to making your own salad dressing:
- Most importantly, you can pick your own flavors.
- There are no additives or preservatives.
- You can control how much you make and it most likely won't go to waste.
- By experimenting, you can have several on hand at a time for whatever mood you're in.
- Makes you aware of how much sugar and salt you use in your dressing. Store-bought brands can be really high in sugar and salt.
For this garlic scape vinaigrette, I decided to almost overkill on the tang factor and I loved it! So, if you are a fan of the tang, you are going to love this one. I knew I wanted to experiment with this dressing last summer, but there weren't enough hours in the day. Once CSA started again, I knew I would make it and I am so pleased with the results.
CSA Garlic Scape Vinaigrette: the break down
It's only a handful of ingredients and I am sure you already have some of these on hand. If you are a CSA member out there, you are most likely in the possession of garlic scapes and will be for weeks! If not, stop by your local farm stand now and I'm sure they will have garlic scapes. The rest of the ingredients are basic: olive oil, white wine vinegar, lemon, salt, pepper, dijon mustard, and honey.
Looking for more salad ideas? I gotcha covered:
- Steak Salad with Pickled Red Onions & Bleu Cheese
- Thai Lettuce Wraps with Rotisserie Chicken
- CSA-Roasted Beet Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette
- CSA-Kale, Radish, Parsley Salad w/Fennel, Carrots & Walnuts
- Jonah Crab & Asparagus Salad w/Basil Vinaigrette
- Warm Goat Cheese Salad w/Toasted Pine Nuts & Dried Cherries
Super Tangy Garlic Scape Vinaigrette
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: ¾ cup 1x
Description
With my CSA garlic scapes in hand I give you this super tangy garlic scape vinaigrette perfect for all your summer salad needs.
Ingredients
- 1 heaping tablespoon garlic scapes, finely diced (1 or two scapes)
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (a small wedge)
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Optional add-ons (any one of these are awesome, but not required)
- Chopped parsley
- Chopped chives
- Chopped basil
Instructions
- Chop the thick end of 1 or 2 garlic scapes – you’ll have to eyeball it since garlics scapes are all different sizes. You’ll need a heaping tablespoon of finely diced scapes so go from there.
- Cut a small wedge of lemon and juice it.
- You’ll need a glass jar for this – anything on hand will do. To the jar, add olive oil, white wine vinegar, the finely diced garlic scapes, honey, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and lemon juice. If you are using any optional add-ons like chives, basil or parsley you can add that now. I had some chopped parsley on hand so I used that, but it’s not required.
- Put the lid on the jar and shake until everything is well combined. Give it a taste to see if you want to add more salt and pepper. It tastes great now but will be even better once it sits overnight.
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