Tag: Salads

For the Love of Quinoa!

For the Love of Quinoa!

Quinoa (Keen-Wa), this protein packed grain is an amazing base for this nutritious summer salad. Quinoa combined with diced chicken, tender grapes, and sliced almonds make this a powerhouse of summer dishes. My son has a multitude of phrases that he will use rather than curse. I appreciate this, really, because at times I have the mouth of a truck driver and our relationship is such that I can say, "I know using words like this is not the best way to express myself, but you are still a child and 'do as I say, not as I do' is...Read More
Wheat Berry Apple Salad: Hearty, fresh, and you always end up wanting more

Wheat Berry Apple Salad: Hearty, fresh, and you always end up wanting more

I DVR'd Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern the other day.  Thomas and I sat down to watch it and I couldn't remember for the life of me WHY I wanted him to see it.  He wasn't too impressed with the Texas State Fair food or the javelina hunt 'n' roast, but as soon as the NASA food developers came on the screen, boy did he light up! My progeny decided long ago that he will be an astronaut when  he grows up.  I have to keep him focused on that goal at times by reminding of things like "they won't...Read More
Field to Feast: Dill and Garlic Scapes

Field to Feast: Dill and Garlic Scapes

Dill and Garlic Scapes It's the second week of July (yes, this is how long it's taken me to write this post) and we just held our sixth annual farm tour here in sunny, humid and oppressively hot Orange County.  Ordinarily we would be setting up at our local farmers' market every Friday from Memorial Day through Halloween, but there is a special event in our town that is held each July 4th weekend, the preparations for which have forced our market's closing for the last six years. A typical farm summer doesn't allow us the luxury of a day...Read More
Roasted Sweet Potato and Blue Cheese Main Dish Salad

Roasted Sweet Potato and Blue Cheese Main Dish Salad

or.... they eat flowers, don't they? I do, for sure. In fact, at this time of year, when our homegrown onions are sprouty and bound for the compost heap, I get antsy for all things allium.  I'm starting to panic a little.  I've even gotten to the point where I ration the few onions I have left. I have this issue with BUYING vegetables that are 1) not local and 2) inferior to what we grow here in the fertile valley known as "the Black Dirt region". That's not to say that I don't buy produce in the off-season.  I...Read More
Didja hear the one about the fresh mozzarella?

Didja hear the one about the fresh mozzarella?

He was two-timing the tomatoes with <gasp> Roasted Peppers! Yeah, I know, I KNOW! Vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil compose the quintessential summer salad.  But sometimes a girl gets a little tired of tomatoes. Lest lightning strike me dead in my roll-y desk chair, I will admit that I LOVE TOMATOES.  I prefer heirlooms, specifically our signature Polish Plum, fresh and still sun-warmed from the field.  I also like a tomato that's been sitting on my counter for a week, even if I have to cut away a third of it because it rotted.  Whatever.  It's August (or September,...Read More
I Fell Off the Meat Wagon

I Fell Off the Meat Wagon

The need for Chicken salad with curry mayonnaise, apples and chive blossoms. A few weeks back, as he does most every week, Thomas 'worked' the Ringwood Farmers Market with me. It's a good thing, too, because I needed his smiling face and skinny-armed hugs.  By the time I arrived I was NOT in any mood to display exemplary customer service. I got a flat tire on the way to market.   It was that sudden, "hey, is that a rock on the roadway...?" that got me. KLUNK! I saw the damn thing at the last minute and, sure enough, it...Read More
Kohlrabi Apple Salad

Kohlrabi Apple Salad

This weekend was pretty slow at markets.  I'm going with the 'everyone is having fun away while we're stuck working' theory.  So I had some time to chit-chat with customers and that was helpful because we had a new veggie this week: kohlrabi!  I was pleasantly surprised how many people just grabbed one or two even though they had no idea what it was or what to do with it. We used to grow kohlrabi when I was a kid and I have such fond memories of it.  Back then, and I'm not saying just how long ago that is, but let's assume it was the mid-70s,...Read More
Retreating from Progress

Retreating from Progress

Eat Local and Eat Seasonal are inescapable buzzwords these days.  They are all over the news and for the most part, we all think that style of eating is a great thing, right?  Well, yeah - until we're just 'dying' for that tomato for our salad in January or by March we've got a hankering for fresh peaches on our cereal.  And when we WANT something, how concerned are we about where it's coming from? Chances are, not very.  Now, remember, not long ago ours was an agrarian society - a society made up of self-reliant farm people.  If we...Read More
The Colors of Christmas

The Colors of Christmas

Not the garishly bright Crayola red and green, either... I'm talking deep crimson red and asparagus green and crisp white.  Mother Nature has created such gorgeous colors that no factory (even Crayola) can reproduce them.  So, in keeping with the color theme for the season, I'm offering up a salad that will wow your guests this holiday season.    Not only is it impressive in terms of appearance, it's EASY FOR THE COOK!  Double bonus! If you're anything like me, you're probably just now realizing that Christmas is a mere 12 days away (which is why my original title for this post was...Read More
Just Your Average Summer Night’s Supper on the Farm

Just Your Average Summer Night’s Supper on the Farm

Not every dish I make has a cute story or a long, convoluted explanation or especially intensive preparations. But the Fairy Tale Eggplant do lend themselves to that. Sometimes they're just ideas that spring to mind when I'm picking or washing the veggies, or sorting the cooler (BIG refrigerator - like, we drive a forklift in there big) all by my lonesome.  I get a lot of thinking done in my 38-degree solitude! Sometimes I just have to get dinner on the table and this hungry farmer needs some good home cookin'!  Plus Dad will stop by most nights for at...Read More