Grilled ramps: simple, spectacular, seasonal bounty

Ramps, sometimes called wild leek, is a wild onion native to North America. The bulb resembles that of a scallion but it has beautiful flat, broad leaves. It's considered a delicacy in the spring when it first appears, and adds a lovely garlic-onion flavor to savory dishes.

|
The Garden of Eating
Grill ramps with a little oil and season with salt and pepper for a tasty seasonal delicacy.
|
The Garden of Eating
Wild ramps, a wild onion native to North America, appears in early spring.

We're coming to the tail end of wild ramp season here in the Hudson Valley so we made one more push to harvest a few more yesterday and we couldn't have picked a nicer day for it.

Just a reminder to please harvest sustainably if you are fortunate enough to find a big enough patch to sustain some picking. You can only take a fraction of the plants without impacting their ability to thrive next year. If you're not sure how much is too much, my friend and fellow Woodstock Farm Festival-er, Rick is a big proponent of snipping just the greens instead of digging up the entire plant.

And don't forget that you can – and should – start your own patch by planting seeds and transplanting bulbs! We started this process last year by ordering ramp bulbs and seeds from Facemire's farm.

The bulbs we planted last year are up again this year and seem to be doing well though it will be a number of years before they've spread enough to harvest any of them. We'll just keep at it, though, and eventually should have a stellar patch of these singularly tasty spring onions.

If you want to start your own patch (do it!) keep in mind that ramps like sandy, loamy soil near streams or on hillsides in deciduous forest – I've heard that maple and oak trees are their favorites – where they can enjoy the early spring sunshine before the trees leaf out and benefit from the natural mulch of leaf litter in the fall. They do not like the acidic soil and limited sunlight of conifer (pine/evergreen) forest.
 
 Now that my little lecture has been delivered, back to the grilled ramps.We made these last night to accompany some grilled salmon with mustard and thyme and we are hooked! Even our 4-year-old son who does not typically like onion-y, garlicky foods attacked them with great enthusiasm.

Very simple, too. Just toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and grill. Enjoy!
 
 Grilled Ramps

 Serves 2-4 as a side

1 bunch (roughly 20) amps, cleaned with root ends cut off

1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper
 
1. Clean and preheat your grill.
 
2. While you're waiting for the grill to heat up, toss the ramps with the olive oil, sea salt and pepper in a large bowl until well-coated.
 
3. Lower flame to medium and lay the ramps out in a single layer. Cook until grill marks form then turn to the other side – this should only take 1 to 2 minutes on each side.
 
4. Remove to a platter and serve.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Grilled ramps: simple, spectacular, seasonal bounty
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Food/Stir-It-Up/2013/0510/Grilled-ramps-simple-spectacular-seasonal-bounty
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe