Serving up Soil Superheroes for Earth Day

This year’s Earth Day celebration highlighted the importance of soil health for food production and the environment, giving our chefs the chance to “dig in” to our year-round commitment to support a more sustainable food system. Cover crops present an encouraging (and tasty) solution to the concerning global issue of soil degradation, which carries deep consequences for our global ecosystems and food security. Never fear — the mighty cover crop is here! 

For thousands of years, farmers have planted cover crops to protect and enrich the soil between harvests. While plants used as cover crops are not usually harvested, many common examples are both edible and delicious. To help raise awareness and appreciation for these soil superheroes, we challenged our chefs to feature edible plants used as cover crops in their Earth Day menus, resulting in a creative display of soil-friendly grains, greens, root vegetables, legumes, and more. 

A chef in a dusty green chef's coat and a black apron stands smiling in a commercial cafe.

Congrats to Chef Davin!

Our chefs are no strangers to friendly competition, so we put their inventions to the test with a light-hearted Cover Crop Recipe Challenge! Creative entries flooded in, from Black-Eyed Pea Tostadas to Barley and Kale Risotto. RVPs cast their votes for the top recipe, and one Cover Crop Recipe Champion was crowned: an innovative “Seed and Soil Salad” that evokes a delicious edible garden, submitted by Executive Chef Davin Klippel from Jessup University in Rocklin, CA. 

Dehydrated black olives represent the “soil” which is covered with a mound of tasty cover crops including fava beans, winter peas, sliced radishes, and millet, tossed with wild arugula and topped with smoked trout, fresh herbs, and a lemon-poppy Greek yogurt dressing.  

“The inspiration behind the ‘Soil and Seed’ salad comes from a similar dish I experienced at Chef David Kinch’s Restaurant, Manresa in Los Gatos,” says Chef Davin. “When the idea came up to create a dish inspired by soil cover crops for Earth Day, I took that inspiration and crafted the Earth Day version, with seasonal cover crops like fava beans, minty millet, winter peas, ‘edible soil’, and local radishes, and paired them with smoked trout. The result was served at our Farm to Fork Station.”  

The dish is a clear reflection of the thoughtful approach carried out by Chef Davin, who has served as the Executive Chef at Jessup University for nearly 15 years, and his team.  

Many congratulations to Chef Davin and all the incredible chefs who submitted their Cover Crop Recipes, who consistently create delicious food that honors our commitment to sustainability on Earth Day and throughout the year.  

“Seed and Soil Salad”
 

Minty millet and winter peas salad with fava beans, local radish, and smoked trout in a lemon-poppy yogurt dressing 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients 

For the black olive “soil”: 

  • 300 grams pitted black olives, sliced 

For the salad: 

  • 1 cup millet  
  • 3 pounds fava beans, picked, blanched, shocked, and cleaned 
  • 3 pounds winter peas, blanched and shocked 
  • 2 easter radishes, shaved, shocked in ice bath  
  • 1/2 cup pickled red onions 
  • 4 baby carrots, shaved, shocked in ice bath 
  • 3 eggs, hardboiled and passed through a sieve 
  • 1/2 cup smoked trout, skin removed, sliced on bias 
  • 1 pound wild arugula 
  • Herbs, handful each:  
  • tarragon 
  • chervil 
  • mint 

For the dressing: 

  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt 
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 
  • 1/4 cup sherry vinegar (or use apple cider vinegar) 
  • 3 tablespoons honey 
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds, toasted 
  • 1 pinch salt and pepper, to taste 

Dry the black olives as much as possible with a kitchen paper towel, then put them in an 110°F oven for about 4 hours (or a food dehydrator set to 52°F for 4 hours). When dried, finely chop or blitz them in a food processor for soil-like texture and set aside. You’ll want the texture to be a bit coarse to resemble soil instead of a fine powder.  

Rinse millet, cover with 2 cups water and steam for 22 minutes.  

Make the dressing. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, poppy seeds, salt, and pepper. Lightly toss the peas, fava beans, millet, wild arugula, radish, and shaved carrots with the dressing. 

To assemble, place the olive soil on base of the platter, then start to arrange the tossed vegetables with arugula and scatter shaved radish, pickled red onions, smoked trout, sieved eggs, and fresh herbs, resembling a garden.