It’s all the rage apparantly… not that I go to restaurants with stars or celebratory chefs - but I saw it on Gardener’s World once, so it must be true… (!)
Micro salad, or micro greens are seedlings. Think cress on a posher scale. Bit of nonsense if you ask me.. waste of seeds.. then again.. I find myself eating them.
When I sow brassicas, the method I prefer is to sow a small tray or punnet in the greenhouse, when they germinate, prick out the number you need, plus a few spare, into modules and raise until sturdy enough to go outside, and then when big enough, plant out in the bed. I do this as we have a slug and snail problem and direct sowing just doesn’t work out.
After I prick the seedlings out, I wait a day or two in case any of them keel over with the shock of having space to grow, as I can replace any failures, and then I am left with a load of spare seedlings to dispose of. Voila! the micro salad. Nope, we don’t have meals with ‘garnish’ - the micro salad goes in my sarnie.. and it’s a nice early treat.
Ideal candidates: cauliflower, red cabbage, cabbage, PSB, calabrese, mustard (for a little heat) coriander, basil, lettuce thinnings and celeriac. I think the key is to remember whether the green bits are eaten when its a grown up plant.. and avoid those that are not - so I would not try any of the squash family and some seedlings are to be avoided. (parsnips are a no no apparently). It’s also an idea to use up old seed packets that you don’t want to hang onto for next year.
There you go, colour it green goes all posh…
I’ve never heard of micro salads so I’m obviously not trendy. Sounds like a good idea when used as you do, though.