A few weeks ago I was introduced to wild garlic, courtesy of our weekly organic box from Riverford Farms. Having no idea what to do with this strange new food, Tim did what any reasonable person should do with a mystery vegetable: turn it into risotto. (By the way, Tim has mad risotto skills – maybe one day he’ll write a recipe for us, but until then, we’ll have to settle for this drool-worthy photo.)
As much as I love risotto, it’s not exactly everyday eating. So I was really excited to find some wild garlic inspiration over at allotment2garden, including wild garlic pesto and wild garlic, potato, feta and pine nut quiche.
Both recipes were tempting, but I only had enough wild garlic for one of them, so I adapted her quiche into a wild garlic frittata. I pretty much followed her recipe word for word, but instead of a quiche crust, I just put a layer of potato at the bottom of the pan (inspired by my mom’s sweet potato crustless quiche technique). I also skipped the pine nuts because I didn’t have any. Instead, I ate the frittata with some fresh avocado and salad, though I’m sure pine nuts would have been top-notch.
The frittata was awesome, and was actually better the next day, heated up in the oven with some super-sweet tomato slices on top. I’d like to try this again but with sweet potato or pumpkin. So bring on the next bag of wild garlic. (If I was really cool, I’d go hunting in the hedgerows for wild garlic myself, but it’s too easy not to when I can buy a bag for £1.50.)
One added note about the frittata – it was IDEAL food for after the morning’s workout. I did all kinds of crazy compound exercises and my muscles were in serious need of repair fuel. The frittata, full of happy potato carbs and high quality egg protein, totally recharged me. So thanks to mangocheeks for the recipe. I highly recommend you check out her blog at allotment2garden for more delicious food, beautiful photos and amazing tales for her garden.
- Gym: Hard. 20min warm-up on elliptical. Stretch. 3 sets 10 reps lunges w/ 4kg dumbell rotation. 2 sets 10 reps dumbell presses with 8kg weight then 1 set 6 reps with 10kg weight. 3 sets 10 reps squats with 2kg arm raises. 3 sets of Planks. 3 sets 10 reps back extensions. 10min in the pool with the kickboard.
- Breakfast: Fruit, yogurt and muesli
- Lunch: Wild garlic and potato frittata
- Dinner: Coconut cashew curry with cauliflower, carrots, asparagus and tofu
Breakfast
Fruit, yogurt and muesli.
Lunch
Wild garlic and potato frittata.
Inspired by allotment2garden: Wild garlic, potato, feta and pine nut quiche.
Dinner
Coconut cashew curry with cauliflower, carrots, asparagus and tofu.
Inspired by 101 Cookbooks: Cashew Curry.
Your food and your photographs are mouth-watering, Monica!
How does wild garlic differ from conventional garlic? I found a picture and people say more like chives than garlic, what do you think?
Wild garlic doesn’t actually look like garlic – it looks like the leaf shown in the picture below. I can see the taste similarity to chives, for sure, though it’s not as strong (nor is it as strong as garlic). I’ve heard others describe it as "like garlic but milder" but the comparison to chives is probably more accurate, especially if you taste wild garlic raw. When it was cooked in the frittata, it tasted more "green" than "garlic" if that makes sense. But there was definitely an aroma of something oniony there. The texture is a bit like spinach, maybe slightly tougher.
Your photographs are really lovely and I really do like the look of your crustless quiche. And the risotto. The more I have eaten wild garlic, it is actually reminding me more of chives than garlic.
Thank you so, so much for the kind mention and the links to my blog. It really is appreciated.
I am envious that you are able to buy wild garlic, whereas I have to hunt it down. I wonder if i’ll find some more.
The frittata looks absolutely divine. Yum.
@mangocheeks – thanks for the compliments. I’m envious that you get to pick yours in the wild. =) a little more work, i know, but it must be so rewarding!
@beatrice – thanks for the compliment! it was delicious, and quickly devoured. =)