Sautéed Fiddleheads

"Crunchy, yet satisfying." This is what Peter said as he tasted these fiddleheads, attempting to quote the Lion King scene where Pumbaa slurps up a worm and says, "Slimy, yet satisfying." He was close. Lucky for you, these are not slimy, but boy are they satisfying.

There are many types of edible fiddleheads around the world. However, the fiddleheads in my area are the furled fronds of a young ostrich fern. Fiddleheads feel like such a Mainer thing, but as I read more about them, I realized we share the ostrich fronds find with Canada. The Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, and Penobscot peoples of Eastern Canada and Maine traditionally harvested fiddleheads, and they remain a traditional dish in these regions. I still say it's a Maine thing, meheheh. Just let me have this moment.

Fiddleheads have a short season—really only a few weeks in the spring—so when you see them at the Farmer's market or at your grocery store, GRAB 'EM!

I also just learned from good ol' Wikipedia that "when picking fiddleheads, it is recommended to take only half the tops per plant/cluster for sustainable harvest. Each plant produces several tops that turn into fronds; repeated over-picking will eventually kill the plant. Maintaining sustainable harvesting methods is important in the propagation of any non-farmed food species."

This is a great tip, as I still have yet to harvest my own (I feel like such a poser). When I finally do harvest my own fiddles, I picture Paul Bunyanesque lumberjacks surrounding me and knighting me as a true Mainer.

Until then, I will continue whipping up these "crunchy, yet satisfying" fiddles as if they were my own harvest, and enjoying this fleeting delicacy of spring!

Massaged Kale with Dressing

I bet that title really pulled you in..."Kale Salad...Let me just stop everything because this is gonna be good." Okay, listen. It is not the most exciting sounding recipe but I think you need to keep...parmesan...reading just a little bit...soy sauce...longer. 

I promise...garlic...this recipe will not...lemon...be anywhere near as dull as its name.

Also, having just given birth and now a mom to an 8-week-old, I find that I am really craving hearty veggies, especially leafy greens, and having little time (read: zero) to cook, this recipe
provides two key things: no cooking and those leafy greens.

I think one of the coolest things about kale is that is can be treated like lettuce in a cold salad, and you can dress it all fancy and stuff, and then the next day, the salad is almost better than the day you served it! Can lettuce make this same claim? I think not. Next-day regular salad creeps me out. The lettuce is all wilty/slimy and just up to no good. But kale? It's like those runners you see in race-day recap photos, the ones that are smiling and have perfectly applied makeup and great hair and are just crossing their 6th mile. Kale does that kind of thing in salads. It looks great after a dressing marathon.

The other cool thing about kale is that it continues to thrive in the snow! So, if you are in denial that winter is upon us, kale helps you stay in denial.

I really could go on and on. I just love the whole kale trend that seemed to come out of nowhere one day and hasn’t gone away. I also enjoy the fact that in the midst of a newborn running my schedule, this recipe is quick and delicious, and the post is just as quick ;)