Pea Shoot, Sunflower Sprout, and Yellow Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

“The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things:  of shoes and ships and sealing-wax.  Of cabbages and kings.  And why the sea is boiling hot.  And whether pigs have wings.” –Lewis Carroll

I’ve had this quote stuck in my head all day because I keep thinking, “the time has come, the time has come!”  The farmer’s market has returned and along with it, the excitement of seeing the produce parade, unfolding week by week.  Last week the most exciting finds at the market (for me) were pea shoots and sunflower sprouts.  This week, asparagus.  I wait all year for asparagus and am giddy when I see it make its brief appearance, standing at attention all down the rows of the market.  Alas, I am in Denver this week (well, not alas–I get to learn fly fishing in the mountains–can’t beat that!) and am missing out on the first appearance of asparagus at the market.  But lest I get ahead of myself…let’s talk about pea shoots.  And sunflower sprouts.  And last but not least, for a tour of my local farmer’s market, click here and I’ll show you around my beloved Fulton Street Farmer’s Market.

Before we went to the farmer’s market on opening day, May 4, I was imagining what we might find.  It was a cold and long winter so our produce in Michigan got a slow start.  Radishes, asparagus, pea shoots, leeks…all popped into my head.  We didn’t find radishes or asparagus last week but found pea shoots!  And sunflower sprouts!  I knew exactly what to do with these two wonderful spring vegetables.  This salad seemed the perfect thing to make and it allowed me to experiment with sauteing pea shoots.  This salad has both raw and sautéed pea shoots, some sunflower sprouts, yellow beets, radishes, and crumbled goat cheese.  Finished with a light honey-mustard vinaigrette, this salad was the essence of spring.

Spring Pea Shoot Salad with Sunflower Sprouts, Yellow Beets, and Goat Cheese; serves 1

• 1 medium yellow beet, peeled
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2-3 oz bag of pea shoots
• 1/3 cup sunflower sprouts
• 2 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel the beet and slice from top to bottom into thin wedges.  Place in a saucepan with water to cover and a dash of sea salt.  Bring to boil then turn heat down to simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until beets have softened but are not mushy.  They should still have a little bite to them.  Drain in a colander and let cool.
2. Split pea shoots in half.  Arrange half of the pea shoots in a salad bowl—I like to use a shallow bowl to showcase the salad…much prettier that way!  Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet or wok.  Add the other half of the pea shoots to the pan and saute briefly, just until wilted.  Add the wilted pea shoots to the raw pea shoots in your salad bowl.  Add the sunflower sprouts to the pea shoots and toss.  Arrange the beet wedges amongst the greens and sprinkle the goat cheese on top of the salad. 
3. Mix the mustard and honey together in a small bowl until combined.  Slowly drizzle the oil into the honey-mustard mixture.  Add the vinegar slowly then whisk to combine.  Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle a little vinaigrette over the salad (there will still be vinaigrette left over for more salads).  Sit down and welcome spring with this simple salad.