Mache

Several people have mentioned feeling a craving for more healthy food after the holiday sugar rush!  This was my supper about a month ago: flounder topped with Italian bread crumbs, sauteed zuchinni, a salad of mache, tomatoes, and cucumber topped with Wishbone Robusto Italian dressing and a few Kashi fire roasted vegetable crackers.  I like my crackers to have a lot of crunch, and these taste interesting while having some whole grain and fiber in them.  A lot of people don’t think much of zuchinni, but if you don’t over cook it, and you season it with some dried oregano and lots of coarsely ground black pepper, each bite can help your taste for something pure green and gardenish grow with every bite!  Speaking of green, mache is supposed to be the new up and coming salad green, according to this, or at least someone is hoping it will.  I remember trying to grow this from seed one year and not having much luck, so when I saw it at the West Ames HyVee, I decided this was my chance to give it a taste.  It’s a very small, tender leaf, more sweet like Boston lettuce.  It’s also called Lamb’s lettuce…again….soft, sweet…..and actually, not enough punch for my salad.  I’m not quite an arugula person, that’s a little too strong for me, at least as a lone green, but if you like your lettuce to stand up and talk to you at all, you might not like mache.  On the other hand, it is supposed to be loaded with vitamins, so it might be worth mixing in with some Romaine lettuce next time.

Anyway, hope this encourages you to try something new, eat something green, create a feast for your eyes, and think about spring!