In season: shiso

AT LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS

Special event:

3 – 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3. Taste of Georgia. Vendors and chefs offer tastes of Georgia products. Larger portions can be purchased for dine in or to take home. Sweet Apple Farmers Market, Roswell.

Cooking demos:

4 – 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3. Chefs Sarah Dodge of The Preserving Place or Philip Meeker of Bright Seed demonstrate dishes using market produce. East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, Atlanta. http://www.farmeav.com/

10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 5. Chef Lesley Cavendar of Avalon Catering. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com

4:30 – 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9. Chef Kate Christian of Three Squares Kitchen. Decatur Farmers Market, Decatur. http://decaturfarmersmarket.com/wordpress/

Many markets offer chef demos on an occasional or regular basis. Check your market’s website or Facebook page for more information.

FOR SALE

Just coming into season: mizuna

Vegetables: acorn squash, African butternut squash, arugula, Asian greens, Asian pears, beets, carrots, chanterelles, chard, corn, cucumbers, delicata squash, edamame, eggplant, field peas, figs, garlic, ginger, green beans and pole beans, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, melons, muscadines, mushrooms, okra, onions, peaches, pecans, peppers, potatoes, rhubarb, roselle, shallots, spaghetti squash, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips

From local reports

Joe Reynolds of Love is Love Farm at Gaia Gardens near Decatur is always looking for interesting herbs and vegetables to add to the collection of plants he grows for local gardeners. He sells his seedlings at the farm during a big spring sale, and also at area nurseries and local markets like the East Atlanta Village farmers market on Thursdays. He starts some plants for sale and others to grow on at the farm and bring to market.

One year, he decided to add shiso to his seed order. “It seemed like a cool thing to grow for our plant sale, and I potted up maybe 15 or 20 plants. I was just incredibly impressed with their taste, part cinnamon, part clove. It might be one of the most distinctive herbs I’ve ever tasted.”

Shiso is widely used in Japanese cuisine and paired primarily with seafood. It’s a member of the mint family, and there are both green and red varieties.

“It’s very easy to grow. It germinates slowly but it’s easy to get a good germination percentage. And it grows slowly until it gets really warm, then it takes off. Like basil, we harvest by cutting off the leaves to bring to market.”

Shiso is a vigorous self-seeder, so Reynolds is careful to cut off the seed heads as they begin to form. Still a few always manage to get away and he finds plants seeding themselves around his greenhouse.

Shiso is unusual in that the leaves are larger than those of most herbs. They have a puckered texture and jagged edges. A leaf makes a decorative and delicious edible “plate” for serving a piece of sashimi, or could be tossed into the vegetable mixture for a supper of tempura. Thinly sliced, the leaves release more of their flavor. Reynolds’ favorite use is to add chopped shiso into a raw cucumber salad. Because of its affinity for fish, shiso would make a delicious addition to a tuna salad.

The purple variety is used to dye pickled ginger and umeboshi plums, a small salty pickled fruit traditionally eaten by the Japanese with rice.

Shiso will grow until the plants are knocked back by frost. Reynolds grows his shiso in containers and the plants thrive until they use up all the available nutrients, which sometimes means the plants are spent before the cold weather arrives. Shiso also is available in groceries that carry a variety of produce for an Asian market.

Terry Koval’s Salmon and Shiso Kohlrabi Tacos

Terry Koval, executive chef at The Wrecking Bar, offers a new kind of “taco.” This low-fat, carb-free version uses kohlrabi as the wrapper and raw salmon as the filling. If you’re squeamish about raw fish, go ahead and steam the salmon and use it that way. These tacos with their ingenious clothespin fasteners will make for plenty of cocktail party conversation.

Koval suggests Arctic char could be substituted for the salmon.

Rice seasoning is available in stores carrying Asian groceries, or at some natural food stores. It’s a mixture of sesame seeds, seaweed flakes, salt and sugar. You could use gomasio, a more widely available seasoning mix instead.

1/4 pound salmon fillet, skin removed

1 kohlrabi bulb, about 1/2 pound

Scallion Soy Sauce (see recipe)

Shiso leaves, thinly sliced

Rice seasoning

Clean clothespins

Thinly slice salmon and chop into small pieces. Set aside.

Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, cut kohlrabi into thin slices about 1/8-inch thick. You should get about 18 slices. Lay slices on work surface and divide chopped fish between them. Top each with a 1/2 teaspoon of sauce and sprinkle with shiso and rice seasoning. Pinch one end of kohlrabi circle closed and fasten with clothespin. Continue until all tacos are prepared. Serve immediately. Makes: 18 tacos

Per taco: 14 calories (percent of calories from fat, 23), 2 grams protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), 3 milligrams cholesterol, 140 milligrams sodium.

Scallion Soy Sauce

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons unseasoned rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil