Tonight’s meal turned out so well and included a new invention of mine. I made the radish c

Tonight’s meal turned out so well and included a new invention of mine. I made the radish crostini as previously promised and the turnip addition was lovely. That garlic-anchovy-butter would be good on dirt, so just imagine on fresh radishes, turnips and warm bread!

As I trimmed the radishes and turnips, their greens looked so pretty that I couldn’t bear to toss them in the compost. So, I started noodling on a dish that might incorporate them. I rummaged through my fridge and found a bunch of fresh spinach, some remaining ramps and a preserved lemon. I wanted a grain to put all this atop, something earthy and chewy, and thought: frik (aka green wheat, freek, freekeh). To start, I toasted the frik in a bit of butter and then cooked in boiling water with salt and cinnamon. While it readied itself, I sauteed the diced ramp whites with some chopped preserved lemon, a bit of EVOO, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. Then I tossed in the turnip, radish and spinach leaves, roughly scissored so the leaf size didn’t overwhelm us (HATE when leaves are humongous and you either get whatever you’re eating all over your face or look like a spaz with stuff falling off your fork and such). I also added the ramp greens (ramps are a wild onion that look a bit like very elegant scallions- they’ve got a little white bulb with soft green leaves that grow up around it), some cinnamon and red pepper flakes. I cooked just until the leaves were well wilted but not soggy and served them around the frik. Last but not least, I saw fresh sundried tomatoes so tossed them in the skillet that had held the anchovy butter sauce, whisked them around quickly and topped the greens. Voila!

Recipes will be posted in Em-i-lis Recipes soon…