RECIPES: Atlanta chef shares special uses for spring vegetables
For Joey Ward, spring in Atlanta is a special time.
The executive chef and co-owner of Southern Belle and Georgia Boy says that the first dish he can remember creating was a green garlic and carrot top dressing for a melange of lettuces and vegetables he calls the Spring in the ATL Salad.
“That truly began to define my culinary voice,” he noted. “There is no dish that I can think of that hits so on the mark of Atlanta in the spring. We make the salad our own with a creamy dressing that covers everything.”
Using the offerings from local farms, the salad changes hyper-seasonally, and features whatever growing goodies are available from week to week.
“The pungent and lightly sweet pickled green garlic used to make the dressing helps to carry the flavors of carrot tops, or any other vegetable trims that you may want to blend into the mix to reduce waste,” Ward said.
Which bring us to the idea of whole vegetable cooking, which attempts to curb waste by using everything from the roots to the stems.
Pão de queijo is a Brazilian cheese bread that is traditionally served as a snack or for breakfast. Ward makes it with one of Georgia’s most treasured exports — early Vidalia onions.
“I love the chewiness brought by the tapioca flour used in the recipe,” he said. “We make it our own by adding Georgia Gouda and spring Vidalia bulbs, as well as serving it with a chimichurri made of the spring Vidalia greens.”
Another spring specialty is a strawberry and almond gazpacho, blended, then drizzled with Georgia Olive Farms olive oil.
“This is a fresh take on a classic Spanish gazpacho,” Ward said. “We replace the tomatoes with underripe strawberries and leave the greens of the strawberries intact to add a vegetal note as well as reduce waste. We serve ours with pickled shrimp crostini for a nice savory balance to the light sweetness of the chilled soup.”
Ward appreciates the momentum that comes with the new season.
“I feel like spring is like the firing gun for the start of a race,” Ward says. “You’ve been waiting and anticipating, and then, all of the sudden, you have something besides root vegetables.
“What’s really great about Georgia’s growing seasons is that once it starts going, it’s like a waterfall. It just comes at you. We try to celebrate as many things as we can as they’re coming in, and we preserve them and keep them.”
Ward enjoys building a menu around what comes with spring.
“We try to do dishes that celebrate individual ingredients, like the Vidalia onions in the pão de queijo and the chimichurri. And then we do dishes that celebrate as many vegetables as we can, like the Spring in the ATL Salad.”
In addition to Little Gem lettuce, the mix of vegetables included Yellow Moon and Thumbelina carrots, charred romanesco broccoli, roasted red and gold beets, shaved fennel and radishes. But as Ward noted, that’s going to change every week, as spring moves on into early summer.
“Basically, it’s a cross section of here and now, and time and place, and season,” he said.
RECIPES
These recipes from Joey Ward, the executive chef and co-owner of Atlanta restaurants Southern Belle and Georgia Boy, celebrate the wonders of spring and the goodness of whole vegetable cooking.
Green Garlic and Carrot Top Dressing
Utilizing beautiful and constantly evolving local spring produce, chef Joey Ward’s Spring in the ATL Salad is an adaptation of Michel Bras’ famous Le Gargouillou salad. Ward makes it his own with creamy green garlic dressing, and uses it to dress his Spring in the ATL Salad, which features greens and vegetables of the season.
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup green garlic, chopped into small pieces, greens and bulbs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1 cup carrot tops, washed and chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh dill, washed and chopped
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- In a medium sauce pot over medium heat, bring vinegar and sugar to a slow boil until sugar is dissolved. Place chopped green garlic in a large bowl. Pour the hot liquid over the chopped green garlic, making sure the garlic is completely submerged. Press plastic wrap directly on the top of the garlic and vinegar mixture so that it’s tightly covered. Don’t just wrap the bowl! Allow to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes. Using a fine-mesh sieve, strain the green garlic. Reserve the green garlic and the pickling liquid.
- To the jar of a blender, add egg yolks, Dijon mustard, salt, carrot tops, dill and strained pickled green garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the pickling liquid from the green garlic. Blend on medium speed until smooth, then slowly add the oil until emulsified. Taste and adjust salt if needed.
- The salad dressing will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per tablespoon: 52 calories (percent of calories from fat, 65), trace protein, 4 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams total sugars, trace fiber, 4 grams total fat (1 gram saturated), 6 milligrams cholesterol, 113 milligrams sodium.
Spring Vidalia Pão de Queijo
Pão de queijo is a Brazilian cheese bread traditionally served as a snack or for breakfast. Made with tapioca flour, it’s both delightfully chewy, and gluten-free.
- 1/3 cup spring Vidalia bulbs, chopped
- 1/2 cup butter plus 1 tablespoon for sweating onions
- 1 1/3 cups whole milk
- 2 cups tapioca flour
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup shredded Gouda, such as Sweet Grass Dairy’s Georgia Gouda
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Heat oven to 390 degrees.
- In a saute pan over medium heat, sweat onions in 1 tablespoon butter until tender. Cool and reserve.
- Place the 1/2 cup butter and the milk in a medium sauce pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat until milk is warm and butter is melted. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add the tapioca flour, salt, onion powder and baking powder. Then, add the warm milk and butter mixture. Mix on low-medium speed until a soft dough forms. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Add the reserved onions, eggs and Gouda and Parmesan cheeses and mix until incorporated. Portion the batter into a nonstick 12-cup muffin pan and bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per serving: 255 calories (percent of calories from fat, 58), 8 grams protein, 19 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams total sugars, trace fiber, 17 grams total fat (10 grams saturated), 82 milligrams cholesterol, 790 milligrams sodium.Spring Vidalia Greens Chimichurri
This chimichurri is made with spring Vidalia greens, which are the green tops of Vidalia onions, and have a pleasantly mild flavor. Look for them at farm stands or farmers markets. Serve with grilled meats, seafood, vegetables or pão de queijo.
- 6 Vidalia onions, greens only
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 bunch parsley, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt to taste
- Toss the Vidalia greens in 2 tablespoons olive oil and lightly char on a hot grill or in a cast-iron skillet until tender. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, whisk the vinegar, sugar and garlic together until sugar is dissolved. Remove the greens from the grill and add them to the vinegar mixture to cool. Once cool, remove greens from the vinegar mixture and chop to a medium-fine dice. Reserve.
- In a bowl, mix the chopped vinegar-dressed onions with the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil, parsley, oregano and red pepper flakes. Season with salt to taste.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per tablespoon: 42 calories (percent of calories from fat, 90), trace protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, 1 gram total sugars, trace fiber, 4 grams total fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 1 milligram sodium.
Strawberry and Almond Gazpacho With Georgia Olive Farms Olive Oil
This is a fresh take on a classic Spanish gazpacho, replacing the tomatoes with underripe strawberries. Ward likes serving it with pickled shrimp crostini.
- 1 quart unripe strawberries, washed well, with green tops attached
- 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, such as Georgia Olive Farms, plus extra for serving
- Kosher salt to taste
- 3 basil leaves, torn, for serving
- Place strawberries, cucumber, sweet onion, garlic, almonds, sugar and vinegar in a blender and blend until smooth. Slowly blend in the olive oil and season with salt to taste. Chill for at least 1 hour.
- When ready to serve, stir well and finish each portion with a drizzle of additional olive oil and torn basil.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per 1-cup serving: 194 calories (percent of calories from fat, 50), 2 grams protein, 23 grams carbohydrates, 16 grams total sugars, 4 grams fiber, 11 grams total fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 5 milligrams sodium.Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
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