For garnish, gone are the days of big kale
leaves and curly parsley, Gilbert says. The
delicate microgreens are more refined and
edible. He made a dish for a Food for the
Poor event at The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach,
Manalapan, Fla., in January in which he
introduced one of his favorite microgreens,
micro sage. Braised Kobe beef short ribs
and porcini mushroom potato foam with
truffles and Marsala sage gastrique was
garnished with micro sage. “The micro sage
explodes with flavor as you’re eating it,” he
notes. He also likes to use it as a garnish
with pork, veal or sturgeon.
Stein Eriksen Lodge
It’s equally important to know when
the microgreens don’t need a dressing.
Holmquist likes to top his braised Utah
lamb shoulder with local goat cheese and
micro mint, and his watermelon and lime
grilled shrimp with micro cilantro. Micro
collard greens are perfect for braised
meats when he wants to add a Southern
accent. And he finds that micro green
onions with their crisp, bright green-onion
flavor are a great finish to tuna tartare.
Zane Holmquist, executive chef at
Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City, Utah,
created this Seared Breast of Quail with
Plum Compote, Foie Gras and Micro
Arugula Salad.
The best flavor
As if microgreens weren’t vibrant on their
own, consider ways to take the flavor
further. Zane Holmquist, executive chef
at Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City, Utah,
encourages others to do as he does and
season them. One of his favorites is micro
basil tossed with lemon zest or tangerine
juice and sumac. “It’s phenomenal,” he says.
heat, similar to arugula or watercress,”
she says. “When you use micros, they
have a more rounded flavor, rather than
huge leaves of hot arugula in the middle
of a salad. It adds a pop in heat without
overwhelming other flavors in the salad.”
“There is just so much flavor packed into
such a little thing. They are very versatile
and very diverse with their flavor profiles,
color, texture and body,” Holmquist says.
Micro sorrel combined with pickled
crabapples finishes and brightens
Pederson’s poached sturgeon dish. She
poaches the fish in white wine, fennel and
vegetable stock, and places three slices of
it atop an apple/fennel purée.
Holmquist’s farm-raised sea bass with
heirloom carrot couscous includes a
vegetable salad, but the salad is composed
of a handful of micro vegetables, including
cabbage, cauliflower, collards, turnips,
carrots, celery and beets. He tosses them
lightly with a low-acid verjus vinaigrette. “It
plays a pretty big role in the dish,” he says.
When selecting from among the vast
array of microgreens, Nicole Pederson,
executive chef of C-House in Chicago
(owned by Marcus Samuelsson), prefers
the micro red sorrel and any in the cress
family for their flavor intensity. “They are
the finishing pop you look for on a plate.
You get more bang for the buck,” she says.
For other dressing tips, he suggests
a splash of champagne or a bit of
pomegranate molasses. “There are so
many things you can do to them to add
another layer of flavor and complexity to
the dish,” he says.
She uses peppercress like a salad
green in her olive oil poached potatoes
appetizer. On top of the poached
potatoes, she layers a mixture of
peppercress, pickled black trumpet
mushrooms and baby carrots tossed with
olive oil. “That flavor has almost a bit of
Since microgreens have been available for
a number of years, Pederson notices that
the category has gone through phases.
In the beginning, chefs used them in the
center of the plate and in salads in huge
amounts, she says. “Now they are using
them more how they should be used, as
garnish or as herb flavoring to enhance
visually or for the flavor.”
Jody Shee is a freelance writer and former
magazine editor based in Olathe, Kan. She
specializes in foodservice, with 20 years of
editorial experience.
