We love growing microgreens on our farm and because we grow them, it means that we eat a lot of microgreens too!
People often ask me the best way to use micro greens and my go-to answer is always, "Just put them on everything!!".
Now, I know that may not be the most useful answer so I have put together a list of 10 ways to incorporate microgreens into your everyday eating.
We eat microgreens as a component of all of our meals, not as a garnish on a dish. Because microgreens are packed full of nutrients we make it a priority to add these tasty babies to our regular meals.
So if you're looking for ideas for using microgreens and shoots in all your meals, keep reading for 10 easy ways to eat microgreens!
Anytime you eat a salad, add a handful of micro greens or shoots. This isn't complicated and you can pretty much use any microgreen or shoot for adding to a salad since you will have other flavors (lettuce/spinach/etc.) to mix with your microgreens.
Use as a replacement for lettuce in a sandwich, wrap, burger, burrito, or taco. These may end up being more flavor-specific. I like using pea shoots or sunflower shoots on my sandwiches, broccoli or mild micros in wraps, and our spicy mix or daikon microgreens in a burrito or taco. Arugula microgreens are my favorite on a burger!
Add them to smoothies. If you are a regular smoothie or protein shake drinker, adding micros or shoots to your routine is a great way to add fiber and nutrients easily. It's best to stick with milder flavors like pea shoots, mild mix, or broccoli micros for smoothies so that the flavor doesn't overwhelm the other ingredients.
Use them alone as a side salad. If you prefer to eat smaller salads as part of your plate of food, simply put a mix of a couple of ounces of shoots and/or micro greens on your plate and dress them how you would like.
Add a handful to your soup, veggie bowl, or noodle bowl right before you eat. Microgreens and shoots don't like to be cooked but they are great added to warm dishes right before you dig in. Pea shoots and sunflower shoots are excellent in noodle bowls and any microgreen or shoot will add flavor, texture, and nutrition to your favorite soups.
Snack on them anytime. Pea shoots and sunflower shoots are the most durable and longest lasting, and the easiest to take where ever you go for an easy, healthy snack. Kids love them too, and ours will devour a bag of pea shoots in a matter of minutes!
Make pesto with your microgreens and shoots. Any green thing can turn into pesto! If you have a bag or 2 of micro greens or shoots that need to be used, don't compost them, make pesto instead! You can use a standard basil pesto recipe, just substitute whatever micro greens you have for the basil in the recipe. You can then freeze the pesto in ice cube trays and add the frozen cubes to soup or thaw them for future sauce. No waste!
Eat them for breakfast. This is one of our favorite ways to eat microgreens and shoots. We will top our fried eggs or scrambled eggs with any type of microgreen or shoot. Add them on top of your omelet right before you dig in, or mix them into your breakfast potatoes right before they are served.
Add them to your stir-fry dishes. The heartier shoots can be warmed with the stir fry right before you serve it, or you can add microgreens to the plate right before you eat. There are a variety of microgreens that will add excellent flavors and colors to your stir fry.
Use them as a topping on your pizza. We often make homemade pizza at our house and microgreens always play a part. My favorite are arugula micro greens but add any micro or shoot on top of your pie once you pull it out of the oven. Microgreens will add flavor, texture, and crunch to your favorite pizza, whether it's meat or veggie!
Don't forget you can use micro greens and shoots as garnishes on anything you eat! Steak, pork chops, mushroom risotto, grilled vegetables, rice, pasta...anything!
Want to start eating microgreens? Become a Member of our Local Food Subscription and get some on your plate!