Kitsilano Farmers’ Market – Garlic Scapes and Stuffed Zucchini Flowers.

Heading over to the Farmers’ Market in Kits on a Sunday morning I imagine the tasty goodies that await my perusal. This week’s offerings stand out over previous weeks as stalls had garlic scapes and fresh zucchini flowers on offer, along with some delicious vegan bread, vegan chocolates, and a stall selling three different types of kale plants for my newly created garden bed. After a long and arduous stroll through the market (!) I headed home to cook up these gorgeous garlic scapes and stuffed zucchini flowers.

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers

Zucchini flowers can be a tad tempestuous so I find it helps to hold them by their base and actually blow gently into the centre of the flower to open it up and clean out any bugs, especially if it got a little dehydrated in the sun on the way home. Gently poke a finger into the flower and hold it open whilst stuffing daiya and (tiny) chopped mushrooms in there… or whatever else you want to stuff the zucchini flower with. Then lay it aside whilst chopping the garlic scapes into bite-size pieces and heating up some olive oil in a pan. Sautee the flowers and scapes, and any leftover mushrooms for a few minutes and then spread over a generously cut slice or two of Rosemary Olive Bread, or other delicious base. Season. Devour.

Garlic Scapes – How to Cook Them

Garlic scapes are fabulous snakey coils of garlic goodness that appear at the tops of the garlic and are completely edible. I chose to sautee them but you can also use garlic scapes to make pesto, use them in pasta dishes, casseroles, for sauces, or nibble them raw if you’re a real garlic fanatic.

Garlic And Vegan Organic Gardening

If you leave them to turn into little bulbs then you can plant them and over time the scapes will form full heads of garlic. This can take a few years though so just eat them now and plant some cloves of garlic for faster turnaround. A handy little tip for vegan organic gardeners out there who are trying to avoid using pesticides or other nasties when growing tasty edibles… use a border of garlic around plants vulnerable to slug or snail attack. Creating a moat of stinkiness will deter them from entering the bed and your lettuce, cucumbers, peas, and beans will fare much better, without the need for beer traps, slug pellets, copper wire or other such deterrent. You can even crush a garlic clove and add to a spray bottle then use the solution to spray plants under attack by slugs and snails. Clearly, in the Vancouver rain, this will need repeating often to be effective but it can help move the slugs onto easier pickings… sorry neighbours.

What did you get at your local farmers’ market this week? If it didn’t involve garlic scapes and stuffed zucchini flowers, you missed out!

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