Sunflower Shoot Salad with Lemon and Pecans

Why sunflower works here

Almost every microgreen is a finishing ingredient. Sunflower is the exception. The leaves are thick, the stems have a real snap, and a bowl of them dressed properly eats like a salad rather than like a pile of sprouts. This is the recipe that changes what people think microgreens are for.

Ingredients

• •4 generous handfuls of sunflower shoot microgreens
• •1/3 cup pecans
• •2 tbsp good olive oil
• •Juice of half a lemon, plus a little zest
• •A shaving of parmesan or a crumble of feta
• •Flaky salt and cracked black pepper

Method

1. Toast the pecans in a dry pan over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, moving them so they do not scorch. Tip them onto a board, let them cool, then roughly chop.
2. Brush any loose black seed hulls off the shoots. Cut them from the tray and give them a quick rinse only if you want to – they arrive clean, and dry leaves take dressing better.
3. Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and plenty of pepper in the bottom of the bowl.
4. Add the shoots and turn them through the dressing with your hands rather than tongs, which crush them.
5. Scatter the pecans and the cheese over the top, add the lemon zest, and eat it straight away.

Notes from the farm

• Dress this at the last possible moment. Sunflower shoots hold up better than any other microgreen but acid will still soften them within ten minutes.
• Toasted sunflower seeds instead of pecans doubles down on the flavour and costs less.
• This is the salad to make the day a living tray arrives, when the shoots are at their most substantial.

Questions

Can sunflower microgreens really be a whole salad?

Yes, and they are the only variety we grow that can. The leaves are thick and the stems are substantial, so a bowl of them has body. Pea shoots are the second-best candidate. Everything else is a finishing green.

Do I need to remove the seed hulls?

Brush your hand across the top of the tray before cutting and most will come loose. Any that survive are harmless. Cut greens come mostly de-hulled already, though the odd one gets through.

The other eight recipes

Shrimp and Grits with Pea ShootsRadish — Oysters with Radish Microgreen…Mustard Greens — Pulled Pork Sliders with South…Arugula Microgreen PestoBroccoli — Soft Scrambled Eggs with Brocc…Kale — White Bean and Sausage Soup wi…Cabbage — Fried Fish Tacos with Cabbage …Cantaloupe Melon — Prosciutto with Cantaloupe Mel…

All nine recipes · about sunflower microgreens · where to find us