Cooking up spring greens

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I realize that I am very lucky to live in a city with multiple farmer's market all within a 5-10 minute bike ride. Last week was the first week of the Andersonville farmer's markets and I am so glad I had put it on the calendar! I have to remember to reign myself in or else I overplan and don't have time to cook everything up. I bought some potatoes, spring onions, asparagus and a mixed bag of greens. I also got some amazing oatmeal, bread and a little something sweet. 

I will admit that I am kind of picky about my omelettes and so when I went to Little Goat the week before and had a very rubbery omelette that struck the completely wrong balance of cheese to spring veg, I knew I was making an omelette. 

I cooked up all of the vegetables, even though I only used a portion of them on my omelette. I now have some vegi's to make tacos or top my polenta with. 

Cook the Vegi's

One bunch of asparagus (8-10 stalks)
One bag of greens (3-4 cups)
One bunch of spring onions (8-10 onions)

Wash the asparagus and snap the woody ends off. The easiest way to do this is start about an inch from the bottom and bend, if it doesn't bend move up another inch and so on until it easily snaps off. This will leave you the softest part of the stalk. I had vegi's that were going to cook at different rates so I put the asparagus in a bowl with a little bit of water and I microwaved them for about 4 minutes. I wanted them to start cooking but not cook all the way through. You could also steam the asparagus if you do not have a microwave. Yes, I totally felt like I was cheating!  

While your aspargus steams take out a saute pan (you will want one that is large to accomodate all the vegetables) and put it over medium heat with a generous dash of olive oil. You want enough olive oil to coat the pan.

Clean your spring onions and pull off any brown parts. Chop the ends off and discard of them. Dice the white part and about 3 inches into the green part of the onion. You can put the green part in a mason jar filled with some water in the fridge to keep for later. 

Wash your greens, rough chop them and set them aside. If your asparagus is ready you will want to dice it as well. 

I usually flick a drop of water on the pan and if it dances across the surface then my pan is hot and ready to cook. Add your onions and asparagus to the pan. Cook on medium heat for five-ten minutes. I like my vegi's almost roasted with little brown crispy bits. Lower the heat to low/medium and add the greens. Cook until the greens wilt down. This usually takes about five minutes. Leave your veg in the pan keeping warm. 

Make the Omelette

The best omelettes are French omelettes. The omelettes I had in Paris were simply sublime. The French pare the ingredients down and it is just eggs, salt and pepper and one ingredient, either an herb, cheese, or mushrooms. Here is a recipe for a basic French omelette. It seems odd to leave the middle just a little uncooked, but once you fold it over the heat finishes cooking it up. I put mozarella cheese in my omelette and then the vegi's on top. It was flipping delicious. Omelettes are great for dinner too with a side salad and some crusty bread. Bon appetit! 

My very lovely table cloth came from Alapash Home and Terrariums. They have some seriously fabulous home decor finds. 

Photo Credits Kandy M. Christensen

Originally posted 5/25/14