A Comprehensive Guide to Microgreens
What are microgreens?
Microgreen (n.) tender leafy vegetable green harvested just after development from the shoot stage.
Delicious, nutritious, environmentally friendly and gastronomically versatile, microgreens have been a colourful and delicious culinary element since their introduction to Californian restaurants in the 1980s.
Even if you don’t know what they’re called, you’ve seen them on your plate before, usually as garnish, though microgreens are a value-ingredient by themselves. They’re also more nutritionally dense than new shoots, and because they can be kept live and harvested, they have greater longevity than short-lived baby greens.
Microgreens are more than just a trend or a detail– they are a powerful tool for updating and enhancing your menu. They are also affordable, sustainable and aesthetically pleasing. There are microgreens to complement every dish, with flavour profiles ranging from sweet, spicy, nutty, and citrusy. They can be used for garnish, salads, soups and sandwiches, even smoothies and sauces.
Farm with Friends supplies only the best hand-grown microgreen produce to your local Lower Mainland restaurant or cafe. We are Buy-BC certified, organic and affordable, providing delivery directly to the culinary community.
DIFFERENT BREEDS, DIFFERENT FLAVOURS
Let’s talk about flavour profiles. This is not an exhaustive list of our produce offerings, but represents some of the options we have available. Because microgreens are still a fairly recent innovation, their use as garnish or ingredient isn’t necessarily intuitive. Microgreens can be surprisingly unexpected in their flavour profiles. Taste, even more than appearance, makes the difference.
Arugula
Baby arugula is familiar to chefs as a salad green or garnish. Micro arugula is less bitter, spicier, and is suitable for a variety of dishes. It’s especially well matched with Asian cuisine featuring ginger and citrus profiles, as well as cured deli meats, fine cheeses, sandwiches, Neapolitan pizza, and salads.
Purple Kohlrabi
Purple Kohlrabi, uniquely savoury, lends itself very well to complementary umami flavours. It’s a colourful addition to fish, steak, pork and chicken dishes, as well as potatoes, hearty soups, root vegetables and tomato based dishes.
Sunflower
Sunflower shoots taste almost exactly like you’d expect them to – the sunflower seeds they’re grown from. Their nutty flavour is extremely versatile, which makes them a good investment if you need a broad-spectrum microgreen. They are, of course, complementary to anything with nuts as a featured ingredient, as well as spicy/sweet profiles, olive oil dressings, salmon or other fish entrees, or just as a snack. Put it on a charcuterie tray as part of the lineup, and you’ll get positive feedback from your customers.
Pea Shoots
Like sunflower shoots, pea shoots have a wide range of uses. Their intensely sweet snap-pea flavour is also a perfect analog of their later pea pod form, but without all the hulling and trimming. In this case, the entire green is tender and edible, ideal for a wide range of pairing options. Because it’s such a stand-alone flavour that is so distinctive, chefs want to be judicious about how they use this green – it’s best to choose dishes where you intend the pea shoots to feature. Garden salads, pickled appetisers, sandwiches, salads, deep fried foods, rice, and even desserts make good flavour foundations for these greens. As with sunflower shoots, they also make an excellent snack.
Maximizing your inventory, reducing your food waste
Farm with Friends offers two kinds of microgreen product - harvested and live trays. While these designations are self explanatory, there are different benefits to each. Depending on your space constraints, turnaround times and budget, you should consider which is most suited to your needs.
Live Trays
Our 10” x 20 “ live trays yield anywhere from 100-400 grams of produce. We use coco coir and other nutrients to grow our microgreens. Each order comes with an additional tray for bottom watering, so you can prolong the life and freshness of your product, allowing you to harvest as necessary.
Harvested
If you’re limited on space, or you aren’t yet sure of your consumption volume, Farm with Friends offers harvested microgreens in recyclable clam shells. These greens will last from 1-2 weeks depending on your refrigeration conditions, and may be a better option if you’re new to microgreens, or want to start with a wider variety.
Go Local
Every chef and restaurateur knows the difference local produce makes. In BC we are blessed with an abundance of agricultural produce thanks to rich growing lands and pure water supply. Sourcing locally means you’re providing a high quality menu to your customers.
Farm with Friends is a Buy-BC Certified small business, environmentally friendly with a lower carbon footprint than long-haul, high-minimum suppliers like Sysco and Gordon Foods. Being a small local business means we are part of your community. We take every client seriously, and are always available to handle your questions and concerns.
Ready to try microgreens?
- Check out our products!
- Find us at these local BC farmers markets
- Request a free sample for your business
Farm with Friends
At Farm with Friends we know food is so much more than presentation, which is why we stand by the flavour and aesthetic of our microgreens. We believe these low-impact, nutrient rich greens deserve a greater prominence in local dining, and can add much needed revitalization and originality to your menu. Whether you use nutty sunflower shoots, savoury red cabbage or tender pea shoots, Farm with Friends can supply you with what you need to make your signature dishes memorable.
