Santa Monica Farmer's Market Dinner

Every Sunday, there is a farmer's market at the Victorian garden on main street in Santa Monica. I have been reading a lot about how fiddlehead ferns are in season right now, and was interested in picking up some to try. I woke up early, and it was scorching hot today. I headed down to main st at around 9 am, and it had to be in the upper 80's already, so I knew it was going to be miserably hot today.

There were no fiddlehead ferns, but I did score some pea shoots and dandelion greens.

After enjoying, and lamenting over the heat, I decided today was a good day to make fried rice.

Dandelion Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice)

1/2 bunch dandelion greens, lower coarse stems removed, remaining chopped up in bite sizes
2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 shallot, sliced (optional)
a splash of olive oil'
salt/pepper
1-2 Tbs kecap manis (sweet Indonesia style soy sauce)
1 small red chillis, sliced (or 1 Tbs chilli sauce)
2 cups of cooked rice

In a large frying pan, heat oil in medium heat. Add sliced garlic. Saute for 30 seconds, then add dandelion greens. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Add chilli, kecap manis, and rice. Stir until all rice is colored with sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.

For traditional serving, top with sliced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, a sprinkle of bawan goreng (fried onions), and a drip of kecap manis.

For the pea shoots, (which I've never tried), I looked them up to find out how to prepare them. You can eat them raw or cook them lightly. I opted for cooking them lightly for 1 minute with some garlic, olive oil, and a splash of mirin.

They were the highlight of dinner - they are really tender and refreshing.

Overall, i'm pretty happy that i got to try a different "green" from the Farmer's market. The pea shoots were different and interesting, with little white blossoms in a few stems, and tiny curled whiskers on the top. Fun stuff.