Mystery Greens. Please Identify if you can?

[mollyanne]

This is a photo of an appetizer served at the Red Cat Restaurant in New York City. The greens look to be a sprout of some sort but not alfalpha sprouts. Can anyone tell me what the greens are in this photo? Do you think there's anything underneath them or are they just lightly plopped there? It looks like thin shavings of fresh parmesan accompany it.

Kayelle's "Pretty Beet Salad" may replace this original choice at the Mother's Day Celebration today
...

 

[mollyanne]

Correction: spelled "alfalfa"...will i EVER learn to proofread? Notice I didn't say "will i ever learn to spell".
I'm in denial that I might be a por speeler
(It would be just my luck that "por speeler" might mean something bad in french )

 

[Andy M.]

They look like snow pea shoots.

 

[mollyanne]

They look like snow pea shoots.

Well, shoot AndyM...color me impressed. Thank you! I never heard of "snow pea shoots" so I googled images and found this pic...i do believe you have this one nailed! I'll bet they're hard to find for sale in the usa but we have a huge asian market here so you can bet that i'm going to try my best to find them there. The website from the Philippines said this, "Maybe in your countries, this is a common ingredient. But here in Asia, it is considered a delicacy primarily because it is not always available even in the advanced Asian countries like Hong Kong.

In all my life, I have never seen Snow Pea Sprouts - the real ones, here in the Philippines. The only times we get to taste this delicious veggie is when we go to Hong Kong in winter, around December, January and February. It is also not available year-round there. So, we do not get to taste it if we go to Hong Kong during other months."

 

[BreezyCooking]

Actually, it looks like the "snow pea shoots", if that's what they are, are just part of what appears to be a garnish of "micro greens", which are a mixture of different tiny sprouting greens - sort of like a mesclun mix in the pre-baby stage.

 

[Mimizkitchen]

It looks like there is frisee in there, and a hint of red so maybe they are baby beet greens...

 

[msmofet]

Correction: spelled "alfalfa"...will i EVER learn to proofread? Notice I didn't say "will i ever learn to spell".
I'm in denial that I might be a por speeler
(It would be just my luck that "por speeler" might mean something bad in french )

 

[Robo410]

a salad of micro greens and herbs

 

[ChefJune]

This is a photo of an appetizer served at the Red Cat Restaurant in New York City. The greens look to be a sprout of some sort but not alfalpha sprouts. Can anyone tell me what the greens are in this photo? Do you think there's anything underneath them or are they just lightly plopped there? It looks like thin shavings of fresh parmesan accompany it.

Kayelle's "Pretty Beet Salad" may replace this original choice at the Mother's Day Celebration today
...

Those do look like pea shoots -- not necessarily snow pea -- they've become pretty popular in restaurants this time of year, but their season is short, because once the peas are formed on the plant, the opportunity for the shoots is gone. (sort of like the green garlic that is also popular this time of year, and the young spring onions). Maybe there's some "baby" frisee in there, but not much else. Pretty presentation.

 

[jennyema]

The look like pea shoots to me, too. But many shhots look similar. I used arulua and radish shoots from my garden the other day and they looked a bit like that, too.

 

[ChefJune]

I love radish shoots. Wish they were more easily available around here.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I love peppery radish sprouts too. In fact, they're really the only sprouts I particularly care for at all. And I agree about availability - only come across them once in awhile in higher-end supermarkets like Harris Teeter & Whole Foods.

 

[buckytom]

mollyanne, it looks to me like there's a mix of sprouts on top of the beets. i see at least three kinds, if you look at the thickness and colour of the stems. i see pea shoots, mung bean sprouts, and possibly radish or beet shoots.

 

[mollyanne]

...wait...i'm taking notes...you all are good at this...snow pea sprouts (or shoots?), micro-greens, mung bean sprouts, radish and beet shoots, pea shoots, baby frisee, pre-baby-stage mesculun mix...all sound like awesome delicacies...and to think I always thought alfalfa sprouts were the alpha and omega

 

[CharlieD]

Hm, my memory is shot, but I do remember Emeril making something just like that once, with beets and cheese, but cannot remember the name.

 

[Treklady]

Looks like chia sprouts, only because I recentlys aw a photo of them. But they are some sort of sprouts.