What to buy in May for FruitsAndVeggiesMonday

I love my monthly contribution to the #fruitsandveggiesmonday by @lenasveganliving. Read her full post and the rules for the contest here: STEEMIT FRUITS AND VEGGIES MONDAY COMPETITION 🍒 🍌🍑🌿🍍🍓🍇. 

A huge amount of the fruits and vegetables that are available on the green market on this time of the year are whether the same as in the early years months (because they are from storage like potatoes, turnips onions, cabbage, pumpki, apples ...) or they come from countries a little bit warmer like Italy or Spain (like fresh lettuces, dandelion, swiss chard, new beetroots ...) or the vegetables are grown in glasshouses  (like radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers, rucola, "wild herbs" lettuces ...).

This time I just would like to introduce some vegetables and herbs that in season in May in Middle Europe and typical for a german May.

One thing I really wait for impatiently every year is asparagus. I love both sorts - the green and the white. Both sorts come from the same plant. It's just the way how it is cultivated that makes the difference. Green asparagus is common and eaten worldwide. It's the young shots of the asparagus plant. It's aromatic, slightly bitter and hearty. I like it for it's beautiful color, the stronger taste and beca it's much easier to prepare than white asparagus. For me it is for example a perfect ingredient in quick pasta dishes together with cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs and a good olive oil. But there are a hundred ways to implement green asparagus into daily cooking. The white asparagus is as far as I know a middle european phenomenon. It is very popular in the Netherlands, Spain, France, Poland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Turkey, Italy, and Switzerland. To keep the asparagus shoots white they get covered with soil as they grow. Without the exposure to sunlight no photosynthesis starts and the asparagus remains white.  Sometimes when the spots start to break through the soil the white asparagus turns slightly purple which is beautiful too. The white asparagus is less bitter and more tender. The downside is the asparagus shots have to be peeled which is no fun to do. But eating unpeeled white asparagus is absolutely unpleasant because it's too woody on the outside. One very popular dish in Germany is cooked white asparagus with potatoes and Sauce Hollandaise (which is not vegan because it's traditionally made with butter and eggyolks) but the Hollandaise can be easily veganized (maybe I post my recipe in the following weeks) or replaced by a very good olive oil. Another typical franconian way is to serve asparagus slightly steemed and pickled in vinegar, salt and sugar and chopped chives with potatoes again.

The health benefits of asparagus a large: Asparagus is low in calories and is very low in sodium. It is a fabulous source of vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, and zinc, and a very good source of dietary fibre, protein, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese, and selenium and chromium.

The next vegetable I like really much as well because it's taste brings back childhood memories: Rhubarb. I remember there was always a huge pot of rhubarb compott seasoned with lemon peels in the kitchen to refresh us when we came home after school on warm early summer days. Actually rhubarb is a vegetable but in Germany it is traditionally used like a fruit. Only the stalks are used. Because rhubarb contain poisonous substances like oxalic acid it can be only used from April to June. After that the amount of oxalic acid in the stalks is to high for consumption. Traditionally the last day to cut rhubarb is the 24th of june, the St. John's Day. By the way that's the last day for white asparagus as well. 

Rhubarb is also perfect for cakes. It's sour taste harmonizes perfectly with sweet dough and very sweet covers. I definitely have to try gain a version with a aquafaba merinque. 

What I have never tried before but is on my bucket list, is to use rhubarb in a more savory way (like Gladys from @gladysstillwagon in one of  her last posts. She made a rhubarb ketchup for her burger. Interested? Here is the link: Jackfruit Burger)

The health benefits of rhubarb are: it promotes weight loss, improves digestion, prevents Alzheimer’s disease, stimulates bone growth, avoids neuronal damage, boosts skin health, prevents cancer, optimizes metabolism, improves circulation, and protects against various cardiovascular conditions.

The next two plants are typica spring herbs: ramson and woodruff.

Ramson is a wild relative to chives with a delicious and fresh taste of chives and garlic all the same time. It's native in Europe and Asia. If collecting it in the woods it is important to know the difference between ramson and lily of the valley. To mix them up can be deadly! (☠️)

Ramson can be used fresh in salads, spreads, pestos or cooked in sauces. (I used it in at least two of my previous posts ...)

The health benefits of ramson: Ramson is known for its antibacterial, antibiotic and probably antiviral effects. It contains vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, phosphorus, sodium and copper. It may help reduce blood pressure and therefore reducing the risk of stroke and heart disease. Compared to all types of garlic, wild garlic is the most effective at lowering blood pressure.

Woodruff is the plant of the day, or let's say tomorrow's (first of May) because it is traditionally used in a popular drink in Germany on that day of the year and all May through: Maibowle. Maibowle is a punch made of white wine, sparkling wine and woodruff. Peppermint leaves and lemon balm make the taste even more niftier.

Woodruff is a flowering herbal plant native to Europe and Asia. It owes its smell to the odiferous agent coumarin and is used to flavor drinks like Maibowle or another famous drink: Berliner Weise.

To show you how it can look like here is a link to a beautiful version of the May punch: Maibowle.

I hope you liked my little excursion to some special edible may plants. ☀️