(Zhenlei Xiao, Gene E. Lester, Yaguang Luo, Qin Wang. Assessment of Vitamin and Carotenoid Concentrations of Emerging Food Products: Edible Microgreens. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2012; 60 (31): 7644 DOI: 10.1021/jf300459b)

Red leafed chicory

Chicory flower

These plants do well in most soils and like full sun to semi-shade, are easily grown from seed and become bitter once the plants start to flower and go to seed. But before that happens you will get months of delicious and healthy leaves.

Chicory Cichorium intybus is a herbaceous perennial that grows from a strong tap root with large leaves. Blue flowers appear on long stalks in the second year. It is frost and drought tolerant, and makes a good winter salad crop in cooler regions. Young leaves have a delicious slightly bitter flavour. Older plants are eaten as vegetables. Some varieties are ‘Red Treviso’, ‘Palla Rossa’, ‘Catalogna Emerald’. Endive Cichorium endiva is closely related to chicory, grows in the same way and is a useful cool season salad plant. The flavour is mild, nutty and less bitter. Some varieties are ‘Pancalleri Fine Cut’, ‘Blonde Full Heart’, ‘Moss Curled’.

Landcress

Mitsuba

Landcress Barbarea vulgaris is a tough biennial plant that self-sows around the garden once established. The glossy green leaves have a strong, hot mustardy flavour that combines really well with mild lettuce leaves.

Mitsuba Cryptotaenia japonica is a perennial that grows as a leafy bush to about 70cm. The delicate leaves have a flavour between angelica and parsley.

Mizuna lime and ruby streaks

Purple orach with lettuces

Mizuna and Mibuna, Brassica rapa subsp. nipposinica are annual or biennial plants that grow in a dense clump to about 50 cm. The leaves are bright green and deeply indented (mizuna) or long and tapered (mibuna). They have a fresh mustardy flavour and are high in vitamin C. Some recently released varieties with more deeply indented leaves are ‘Green Elk’, ‘Red Streaks’, ‘Lime Streaks’

Orach Atriplex hortensis can grow to over 1m with either red, white or green leaves. Red is the most common. Young leaves and stems are eaten in salads. Self-sows readily.

Perilla

Rocket

Perilla Perilla frutescens The most common form of this annual has ruffled purple leaves. The leaves have an earthy, spicy flavour and can be cooked or eaten in salads.

Rocket, arugula, Eruca sativa is an annual that can grow up to 70cm when in flower. Sow seed where it is to grow, it will self sow. Rocket does best in cooler weather and has a delicious, pungent flavour. There are now several varieties with broader leaves and a milder flavour.

Wild rocket Diplotaxis tenuifolia is a perennial that grows as a low bush with yellow flowers. It is very drought tolerant. The flavour of the leaf is similar to rocket, but stronger and nuttier.

Wild rocket

Succulent, peppery watercress

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) is a sprawling much-branched, aquatic, perennial plant, with a low, creeping growth habit, with heart-shaped, bright green leaflets and white flowers. Roots grow from nodes where they touch the ground. It is really easy to grow, if you buy a bunch of watercress, just plonk one piece into a glass of water and within a few days it will have produced roots. You can also grow it from seed.
Ideally watercress should be grown in running water, but it survives well in a pond, planted in a pot submerged in the water,  as long as it is regularly sprayed with fresh water. Once a week is enough. Alternatively grow it in a pot sitting in another container full of water that is also regularly topped up. Watercress likes a humus-rich, fertile soil and full sun or partial shade.  Once plants are growing well remove any flower heads to promote leaf growth and prolong harvest.

Young shoots and leaves are eaten in salads where their delightfully peppery flavour adds bite and savour, they are also simply used as a garnish. And traditionally they are combined with succulent cool cucumber in dainty summer sandwiches. Watercress is high in vitamins A, B1, B2, C and E as well as calcium, copper, iron and magnesium, so its a great addition to the diet. The Vietnamese call this plant xa lach xoong, which means little lettuce, and they eat it fresh with other salad greens, and add it to soups just before serving. Watercress is also delicious fried with fish or pork.

Watercress grows easily in a container like this plastic bowl

or a polystyrene box

The following recipe is a delight at any time of the year and comes from my book Community Gardens which was co-written with Pam Vardy. Pam collected this and all the other recipes in the book, from the gardeners we interviewed. She then tested and refined the recipes.

Beef and Watercress salad
Dressing
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
11⁄2 tablespoons rice vinegar
41⁄2 tablespoons water

In a clean jar, combine all ingredients for the dressing, replace lid and shake well until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 tablespoon fish sauce
11⁄2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
250 g fillet steak, thinly sliced
1 bunch watercress, washed and dried
1 large onion, finely sliced

In a bowl, combine 2 cloves garlic, fish sauce, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 tablespoon oil. Add steak, mix well and marinate for 1 hour. Arrange watercress in a salad bowl and toss with a little of the prepared dressing. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok. Add onion, 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar and remaining clove of garlic. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add meat and marinade and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Serve at once on top of watercress. Can be served with a separate bowl of dipping sauce for added seasoning.
Serves 4.

This recipe is from my book Community Gardens: A celebration of the people, recipes and plants

Bright orange, edible nasturtium flowers

One of the most cheerful plants in my garden at present are the nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus). The bright yellow, orange and red flowers are jewel-like highlights, scattered around the garden, in odd spots, tumbling over other plants. Nasturtiums grow easily from seed sown where they are to grow and once established they will grow, flower and set seed for months. Intense heat, or later cold and frost kill them off but in my garden they reappear every spring, colonizing waste spaces and protecting soil until I am ready to pull them out and plant something else. The only work involved in looking after them is to keep them under control. Any plants that you don’t want are simply pulled out and added to the compost where they rapidly break down.

'Empress of India' nasturtium has darker leaves and deep red flowers

Pack a wide-mouthed jar full of nasturtium flowers

After straining out the flowers you are left with a lovely deep red vinegar

All parts of the plants are edible, with a hot peppery taste, but my favourites are the flowers. They have a delightful mild peppery flavour and look fabulous in salads. Earwigs love to hide in the back of the flowers, so knock them gently on a bench before eating or adding to a salad or you may end up with more protein than you expected. Leaves are much hotter and can be added sparingly to salads but also look great when spread over a plate with savories on top. Green seeds can be pickled and taste like capers.

When I have lots of flowers I always make Nasturtium Flower Vinegar. Find a wide mouthed jar and fill with nasturtium flowers, cover with a good white wine vinegar and leave to stand on a sunny windowsill for a week or so. The colour and flavour of the flowers is absorbed into the vinegar. Strain through a sieve and discard the flowers. Pour into a bottle and seal. I combine this vinegar with good olive oil to make a simple salad dressing, but it is also delicious in marinades and sauces, and poured into decorative bottles makes a colourful gift.

Corn salad has mild, almost melt in the mouth leaves

The lovely autumn days entice me into the garden where I have been madly weeding and cutting back the prolific summer growth. I love this time of year when the soil is still warm, so plants are still growing, but the intense heat has gone. Two plants that come into their own now are corn salad and landcress. These are both annuals (landcress is sometimes biennial) that self sow around my garden providing salad greens right though autumn and winter.
Corn salad (Valerianella locusta) is also known as lamb’s lettuce, and has a delicate very mild flavour with soft leaves that almost melt in the mouth. The leaves are pale green and rounded and grow in small clumps. You can pick the leaves individually or cut whole plants just above the ground, they will re-shoot. Plants only reach about 30cm in height. There are cultivars with golden, extra large and darker green leaves. Grow corn salad in temperate and cold regions from seed sown in autumn, winter and spring—in hot weather it goes to seed almost immediately. I find that mine goes to seed in spring, then disappears until autumn when the plants appear again in a dense clump.

Lancress has a hot, spicy flavour, perfect for winter salads

In contrast landcress (Barbarea vulgaris) self sows in summer and plants appear again in odd corners all over the garden all year round, but most prolifically in autumn. Landcress is also sometimes called winter cress or yellow rocket and is easily grown from seed planted in autumn and spring. It’s a tough, undemanding plant that grows as a rosette of dark green leaves from which stalks, with smaller leaves and a profusion of yellow flowers, grow in summer. It can grow as tall as 70cm when in flower.
Both corn salad and landcress will grow in most soils as long as they are well drained, and they like open sunny or semi-shaded positions. Landcress has hot, spicy crunchy leaves, similar to watercress, that are high in minerals and vitamins, especially vitamin C.
Salad
One of my favourite cool season salads is made by combining these two leaves, the mild, soft corn salad leaves beautifully compliment the strongly flavoured cress, add the last of the summer’s tomatoes, or later in the season gently fry some leeks and stir them in, delicious! —PW