I love the farmers market! I know, I say it a lot but it is so fun to see what's fresh, meet the vendors, and just be outside in the summer. When I saw that Olivia's Organics was calling for creative summer salad recipes, I knew exactly what I wanted to create. A Farmer's Market Bounty Salad. The ingredients would be whatever looked interesting at the market. For a base I used the Olivia's 50/50 blend. It's half spinach and half spring mix.
I headed out for a lunchtime trip to the Copley Square Farmers Market. Atlas Farms was my first stop, since I have my pre-paid share with them. I picked up most of the ingredients, then wandered over to Siena Farm to see if they had any new-to-me produce. These ingredients, combined with a few on hand from my weekend market visits, made for a good mix for the salad.
Atlas Farm
Rainbow Carrots
Yellow and Orange Tomato
Golden Beets
Flat leaf parsley
Siena Farm
Lemon Ball Cukes
Potager Farm/Herb Lyceum (SoWa Market)
Black Radishes
Also from the SoWa trip (can't remember the farm)
New England sweet corn
Whole Foods (not the market, but still seasonal!)
Fresh garbanzo beans
I had all the ingredients waiting in the refrigerator, but had no free nights for dinner! So I did what any normal person would do (right?) and made my salad after coming home around 9:30 p.m. I did a photo shoot with the completed salad and then packed it up for lunch the next day!
When I started thinking about a dressing for the salad, I kept coming back to something creamy. It needed to be light that wouldn't hide the flavor of all of the vegetables. I scoured the refrigerator and come up with Greek yogurt and lemon. I added in some of the parsley and extra virgin olive oil for a quick and healthy dressing.
This was delicious, the Olivia's greens were a hearty base, and it was perfect for lunch and dinner for a few days!
Vegetable Prep
Slicing and dicing:
Carrots - peeled and cut into coins
Cucumbers
Tomatoes - cored first (I don't like all the seeds)
Peeled and Shredded:
Black radish
Golden beets (I also blanched these to help keep the color)
Blanched:
Fresh garbanzo beans
Shredded beets
Grilled:
We had grilled the corn earlier in the week and I used some leftovers
Salad Assembly
Place salad greens on a serving plate, top with veggies as neatly or sloppily as you'd like and serve!
Salad Dressing
1 container Chobani plain Greek yogurt
Juice from half a lemon
1 teaspoon (or so) extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Whisk all ingredients together and serve with salad
Summary:
Cutting board, knife, y-peeler, slotted spoon, sauce pot, serving plates and utensils
Lunch the next day:
This looks like a fantastic seasonal salad!
ReplyDeleteI taste tested myself and it was great! I need to know more about fresh garbanzos though...I am intimidated, but intrigued! @renh77
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful salad! I love how you plated it in rows. I am so curious about those cucumbers and garbanzo beans!
ReplyDeleteLooks good enough to eat. Your photo presentations are wonderful! I know our friend Laura is going to be impressed. You'll have to come teach a class! Keep up the yummy work. And Josh too.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful! I've never had a lemon ball cucumber before, I'll have to be on the lookout and give it a try. That salad is just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLooks good enough to eat. Your photo presentations are wonderful! I know our friend Laura is going to be impressed. You'll have to come teach a class! Keep up the yummy work. And Josh too.
ReplyDelete