Sea Beans!
What three things did I love about going to the University Farmers’ Market last weekend? 1) Somebody was wearing a hat — what do you call those wide, conical Chinese hats — well, whatever they’re called, it was totally covered in sequins. That sort of thing can make my whole week.
2) Raspberries and cherries were in season, which just might be enough to convince me to make ice cream. Fresh fruit on homemade vanilla ice cream? Gotta love summer.
And, 3) Patricia Jane (my farmers’ market Sherpa) was very supportive of my shy enthusiasm of buying sea beans from the forager’s stall. They looked … fun. Little green squiggles that taste like sea spray smells. She said that after I blanched them to get some of the extra salt out, I could put ‘em in a salad, or make a crab and sea bean risotto.
I had my doubts, but two days and one crab and sea bean risotto later … my adventure turned out pretty tasty! And any plant that dense and green has got to be packed with vitamin goodness. So now I have a new veggie on my (fairly short) list of veggies that I like. Sea beans!
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Awww, I’m honored. A Sherpa!
Note: I made a lovely cold emmer summer salad (like a pasta salad) tonight. I didn’t put sea beans in that, but I bet they would have been yummy there too.
And conical hats… see: https://www.kavu.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=5&idproduct=161
You can buy them in Ballard and if you do, they’ll take a picture of you and put it on their wall.
YES! I saw one of those foam ones, too. Most excellent.