We recently rediscovered hearts of palm in a salad a friend served with dinner. Their tubular shape and fibrous texture can seem a little odd to the uninitiated, but once you try them, you'll understand why we've been adding them to all our dishes!
Ingredient Spotlight: Hearts of Palm
Hearts of palm are actually the stem tips harvested from growing palm trees. When fresh, hearts of palm are crisp and a little sweet.
It can be hard to find fresh hearts of palm, and most American markets only carry it canned. Still delicious, canned hearts of palm are more tender and soft. We think it has a nutty, slightly musky flavor, making it a good base flavor for fresh salads.
It can be eaten both raw and cooked. If using canned, you can leave them in long tubes or cut them into coins (as pictured above). We also like to add minced hearts of palm to pasta sauces, risotto, and the fillings of empanadas and calzones.
What's your favorite recipe using hearts of palm?
Related: Ingredient Spotlight: Spaghetti Squash
(Image: Flickr member Chotda licensed under Creative Commons)
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I usually use canned heart of palm to make a refreshing salad with cucumber and tomato. Cut them in coins, mix with peeled & cut cucumber slices and tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil and salt & pepper.
view Hannah's profile
I actually had amazing friend heart of palms the other night - they were served like french fries and absolutely a delicious blend of textures - almost the consistency of mozzarella sticks but with a nice acid bite as a suprise. I'm definitely going to try to make them at home
view boedicea's profile
hearts of palm go brilliantly with grilled steak in a room-temp salad - make a light potato-salad-type dressing, toss together. Delicious!
view brenjay's profile
I purchased a can of hearts of palm recently that were in a "marked down" basket at the supermarket. I've used them in salads, and now I am hooked. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. I've added them to organic fancy romaine lettuce blends with frisee, radicchio and grated carrots. Then I chop up green onions, slice baby cucumbers, and sprinkle the salad with a little grated cheese. The salad is adorned with either Ranch dressing, or homemade olive oil and blackberry vinegar, and sprinkled with Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Delicious.
view skytoucher's profile