Micro Greens: Easiest Garnish Ever!

You know those small leafy things that often come on top of your soup or entrée? You know, those obnoxious, fancy, delicate looking greens that look like small lettuce? Those pricey greens are micro greens and my roommate discovered them when she was weeding/ thinning the arugala we had planted in the garden.

Micro greens are very common in restaurants. They are an easy way to increase the aesthetic of a dish without creating oils, aioli, reductions, or so on. Though pricey, micro greens are simply the remains of types of lettuce after it is thinned. In order to make sure lettuce and other produce grows well, it cannot be blocked by another produce. In order to prevent this, removal of parts of the plant are necessary…here enters micro greens. Since micro greens are too small for any other purpose, using them for garnishes makes perfect sense.

In the case of our garden, our micro greens were of arugala. The inch long plant sat in my hand like King Kong holding a human. I put my nose to it but I couldn’t smell anything. No aroma of peppery and bitter bite that makes arugala so different from other greens. So I did the next best thing, ruling listening out, I ate it. Bitter it was. The arugala plant that felt so tiny and delicate in my palm was a sharp peppery son of a plant. Its taste was so pure I wish I had better prepared myself.

Arugala makes a great micro green because it’s flavor is so intense. If you have a garden of your own I suggest trying this out (Only if you are growing lettuce that is). And as for dining out, next time you get a garnish of micro greens, try to taste what plant is being microed!