Every Thursday we pick up our CSA order. I feel like a kid at Christmas anticipating what goodies may arrive in the basket each week! CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a system in which consumers receive food directly from the farmers who produce it. But unlike a farmers’ market system, supporters of community agriculture actually share in part of the farmers’ risk. That is, they pay in advance for a portion of the farmer’s total crop. Crops that do well will be abundant in the share, crops that do less well will be less abundant. For their part, the farmers have a stable income that doesn’t depend on sunny weather on farmer’s market days. This is where you can find the best in fresh food, locally grown without pesticides or dangerous chemicals. Thank-you to Growing in Grace farm!
Here is what came in my basket today…
Fresh spinach, leaf lettuce, gourmet leaf lettuce, radishes, peas, cilantro, purple onions, turnips, baby pak choi and one dozen of free range eggs. Clean eating recipes started dancing in my head and my kitchen spoons started clanging! I knew I wanted to make a large green salad and since I got 25 boxes of these yesterday… (thank-you to my sweet friend Susan G., they are amazingly delicious!)
I wanted to include them in the salad. (most of them are already frozen whole and popped in freezer zipper bags for our winter smoothies!)
My niece, Ashley, (and fellow foodie) brought me a beautiful jar of aged balsamic vinegar a few weeks ago and this was the base of my salad dressing.
The other ingredients are Dijon mustard, grapeseed oil, raw honey, garlic and salt and pepper.
Whisk all ingredients together. This stores well for weeks in your fridge.
Triple wash and spin dry the greens. I used the spinach and gourmet leaf lettuce mix. Thinly slice 2 young purple onions and 1 cup of fresh strawberries. Toss greens, onions and berries with dressing. A little of this dressing goes a long way, so don’t overdo it. We prefer just a hint of the dressings. Top with sliced toasted almonds.
My honey and I had a fork war over the last bits of this salad.
Balsamic Dressing
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1/2 c. oil (olive or grapeseed)
1/4 c. honey
1 T. Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt & pepper to taste
Whisk together and store in fridge. Toss with fresh greens.
I would like to hear from my blog followers what is your favorite salad dressing. Click on the comment button, it really is quite easy!
