Sweet Corn Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

Here's what Farmer John had for us in Silver Lake this week:
Daikon radish
Golden zucchini
Sweet corn
Dandelion greens
Carrots
Red chard
Tuscan kale
Romaine lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Squash blossoms
Lemon basil

And here's what Tara brought back from Underwood Family Farms:
Bicolor sweet corn
Lemons
Texas sweet onions
Japanese turnips
Red seedeless watermelon
Galia melon
Red leaf lettuce
Celebrity tomatoes

Nothing screams summer like fresh-picked sweet corn. Grilled or boiled, and slathered with butter and salt, fresh corn is a classic American treat. It's fun to eat, too. Pick it up in your hands and gnaw the kernals off the cob. Few foods offer that kind of primal pleasure.

You can make a delicious salad with fresh, sweet corn. Just grill up a few ears, cut off the kernels and mix it up with some onion, pepper, herbs, and a light vinaigrette. I've been using some of Farmer John's tasty lemon basil in my corn salads this season. It adds a beautiful bright flavor and color that complements the creamy sweetness of the corn.




(Pics show jewels from Rebecca's garden, without her since July 6. Bye sweet lady, I miss you but sometimes I think you're still here - Tara.)






Sweet Corn Salad
2-3 ears sweet corn, grilled or boiled and cooled
1 small red onion*
1 small or medium red bell pepper**
2 green onions
About 20-25 lemon basil leaves, more or less to taste
1/4 C olive oil
3 T cider vinegar or rice vinegar
1/2 orange
1 t agave syrup, optional
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the kernels off the corn and put them in a bowl. Compost the cobs, or feed them to the chickens - my birds love them.

2. Finely chop the red onion and add it to the corn kernels.

3. Seed and dice the red bell pepper and add it to the corn and onions.

4. Finely chop the green onions and add them to the bowl.

5. Tear the lemon basil leaves into coarse pieces and add them to the bowl.

6. In a separate small bowl or 1-2 C measuring cup, mix the oil and vinegar together. Using a microplane grater, grate the zest of 1/2 orange and squeeze its juice into the vinaigrette. Stir in the agave syrup.

7. Pour the vinaigrette over the corn salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This salad gets better when it sits a little, so make it a few hours or even a day ahead.

*You can use the Texas sweet onion from Underwood Farm instead of red onion, but use only about 1/4 of the Texas sweet onion, as the ones we received today are pretty big.

**You can use green, purple, or orange bell pepper if you prefer. I'd avoid yellow bell pepper simply because of the color.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Watermelon and Feta Salad

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Congratulations Stephanie!


Here's what Farmer John had for us in Silver Lake this week:

Arugula
Basil
Sage
Marjoram
Thyme
Green beans
Squash blossoms
Japanese cucmbers
Japanese eggplants
Dandelion greens
Mizuna
Kale
Collard greens
Daikon radish
Lemons
Limes


I love my job!!!


This week, Silver Lake Farms introduces a new grower, Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark. Here's what Tara brought back from Moorpark this afternoon:

Round carrots
French breakfast radishes
Romaine
Yellow squash
Sweet corn
Watermelon
Black cherokee heirloom tomatoes
Cucumber

Contrary to what you might think, watermelon and feta cheese are an inspired combination. The sweet juiciness of the watermelon juxtaposes nicely with the dry and salty feta. We served toothpick skewers with a ball of watermelon and a cube of feta at the Food & Flowers Freedom Party on the 4th of July. It's a quick and easy appetizer for a summer party.

You can take this same flavor combination and upgrade it to a composed summer salad that serves as a delightful light lunch or first course. I like to cut the watermelon into thin slices, remove the rind and seeds (if any), and cut the melon into large irregular triangles. But you can cut the melon into whatever shapes you like - that's one of the fun things about this recipe.

Watermelon and Feta Salad

For 4 servings:

1 small round watermelon
1 C crumbled feta cheese
1 small head Bibb lettuce
1/4 C pitted Nicoise olives
mint leaves
2 t honey
2-3 T rice vinegar
2-3 T extra virgin olive oil
Optional: several drops of very fine, thick, aged balsamic vinegar

1. Cut the watermelon into 8 thin slices, collecting any juice in a cup. Remove the seeds (if any) and the rind, and cut each slice into 2-3 large irregular triangles.

2. Wash and core the Bibb lettuce. Break it into pieces and spin it dry. Place it in a bowl. Compost the core and any damaged leaves.

3. Mix up the dressing by whisking the honey, rice vinegar, and olive oil until combined. Whisk in a little of the reserved watermelon juice, if desired.

4. Add about 2 T of dressing to Bibb lettuce and toss lightly. Divide the lettuce among four plates.

5. Arrange the watermelon slices over the dressed lettuce. Sprinkle the crumbled feta and Nicoise olives over the melon.

6. Sprinkle a few mint leaves on each plate or make a chiffonade of the mint by stacking and slicing the leaves into very thin strips. Then sprinkle the chiffonade over the salad.

7. Drizzle with the remaining dressing. For an elegant finish, take a few drops of very well aged, thick, sweet balsamic vinegar and using an eyedropper or a very small spoon place 2-3 drops on each salad.

Enjoy!

Romaine Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing

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Flower pics from Tara's garden. Hello Susans!



Here's what Farmer John had for us in Silver Lake this week:

Zucchini
Oranges
Yellow wax beans
Purslane
Daikon radish
Sweet marjoram
Sage
Thyme
Basil
Squash blossoms
Dandelion greens
Arugula
Swiss chard
Kale
Green peppers
Collard greens

Grandmother's pincushion in mint (left).

And here's what Tara brought down from McGrath Family Farm, certified organic growers in Camarillo:

Haricot verts
Baby red onions
Strawberries
Baby squash
Mesclun
Basil
Red romaine
Green romaine
Swiss chard

It's too hot to turn on the oven. Thankfully, we got lots of salad greens this week. Salad can be a light and cool meal especially when you use a crisp lettuce and a chilled, creamy dressing. This recipe for Romaine Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing is one of my favorites. It takes just a couple minutes to mix up the dressing; and it keeps in the fridge for a week. I like my blue cheese dressing chock full of cheese, but you can reduce the amount of cheese to make it lighter.

Romaine Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing
Start by washing some romaine leaves in a cold water bath. You can crisp up the leaves by adding some ice cubes to the water bath. Break the crisp leaves into bite-sized pieces and spin in a salad spinner to dry, then store the lettuce in the fridge while you mix up the dressing.

For the dressing:

1/2 C mayonnaise
1/4 C sour cream or whole milk yogurt
1/4 C buttermilk ( or more for a thinner consistency)
2-3 t white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
1/2 t agave syrup
3/4 C crumbled blue cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix together the first five ingredients until well combined.

2. Stir in the blue cheese.

3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve the dressing immediately or put it in the fridge to get cold. To serve: Spoon the dressing on a bed of crisp romaine leaves.

You can include some spicy arugula with the romaine, if you'd like. Other tasty additions to this
salad are: crisp, crumbled bacon; candied pecans; and/or very thinly sliced red onion.

If you're wondering what to do with daikon radish, you can peel and very thinly slice it and a add a few slices to this salad.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Fresh Tomato Salsa

Forono Beets



Here's what Farmer John had for us in Silver Lake today:

Celery
Tuscan kale
Yellow wax beans
Daikon radish
Japanese tomatoes
Collard greens
Arugula
Chard
Romaine
Squash blossoms
Lemon basil
Purslane

And here's what Tara picked from McGrath Family Farm, certified organic growers in Camarillo:

Carrots
Forono beets
Baby corn
Chard
Romaine
Strawberries
Raspberries
Baby squash

And here's a quick snap from my trip to get composted horse manure at Tim's in Altadena. Thanks Graham for the use of your truck. (Ours is in the shop. Grrrr!! But hey! I'm enjoying the ride!) - Tara


In addition to this bounty, Tara brought micro-greens grown right here in Silver Lake at Silver Lake Farms by Katy Kate! If you picked up a bag, be sure to eat them soon, as micro-greens are delicate and taste best when very fresh.

I couldn't resist the fat, ruby-colored Japanese tomatoes. They were perfectly ripe and ready to eat. A simple salad of sliced tomatoes on a bed of arugula drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and a little salt might be the perfect easy dish for a mild summer night.

With a little extra effort, you can make a delicious tomato salsa to eat tonight or keep in the fridge for a few days. It's great with chips, of course, and on little tacos that I like to make with leftover meat and vegies. I like to use it on fresh grilled chicken and fish, too; and I love it as an accompaniment to scrambled eggs.

This recipe calls for one large tomato, but you can double it if you'd like.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

1 large ripe tomato
1/2 small sweet onion
2 green onions
1/2 small jalapeno (more or less to taste)
1/2 small bunch cliantro (optional)
juice of 1/2 juicy lemon or lime, or more to taste
Mexican hot sauce, such as Cholula
salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop the tomato into small dice and place in a bowl.

2. Chop the sweet onion finely and add to the bowl.

3. Trim the green onion and slice the white part and some of the green part. Mince it finely and add to the bowl.

4. Using rubber gloves, remove the seeds from half a small jalapeno pepper and chop very finely. This amount of jalapeno will yield a spicy salsa, so if you like your salsa milder, add only half of what you've chopped. You can always add more later.

5. If you're using cilantro, remove the leaves from the stems. Compost the stems and chop the cilantro leaves finely. Add to the bowl.

6. Stir the salsa. Squeeze in the lemon or lime juice. Now taste the salsa. Add hot sauce, more jalapeno, salt, and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Spinach Salad with Fresh Raspberries and Raspberry Vinaigrette

young squash from McGrath



Here's what Farmer John had for us in Silver Lake this week:

Avocados
Oranges
Daikon
Kabu turnips
Celery
Squash blossoms
Kohlrabi
Yellow wax beans
Tuscan kale
Curly kale
Chard
Arugula
Dandelion greens
Lemon basil

And here's what Tara brought down from McGrath Family Farm, certified organic growers in Camarillo:

Carrots
Spring onions
Beets
Haricot verts
Chard
Romaine lettuce
Spinach
Strawberries
Raspberries
Squash

Speaking of strawberries, here's a strawflower from Tara's garden.

If you happened to choose the spinach this week you probably noticed how unusual it looks with its small triangular leaves and deep red stems. I believe it's a Bordeaux variety. And because it's young and tender, it's perfect for a spinach salad. A traditional spinach salad with crisp, crumbled bacon and hard-boiled egg makes a tasty lunch or supper. I like to toss in some onion and avocado, too.

A more delicate salad is built around spinach and the beautiful red raspberries that were available as an option today. If you need more greens, you can add more spinach or use any combination of the arugula, dandelion greens, or the tenderest romaine leaves that tastes good to you.

Spinach Salad with Fresh Raspberries and Raspberry Vinaigrette

For each meal-sized serving or for 2 side salad servings:

2 C gently packed, washed, dried and trimmed spinach broken into bite-sized pieces
1/2 C washed and dried red raspberries
1/4 C crumbled goat cheese
2 T chopped toasted walnuts
1 scant T thinly sliced red onion (optional)
1 T raspberry vinegar, or more to taste
1 T extra virgin olive oil, or more to taste
salt and pepper to taste

1. Toss gently the spinach or greens, raspberries, goat cheese, walnuts and onion in a salad bowl.

2. In a separate small bowl or cup, briskly mix together the raspberry vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

3. Drizzle dressing over salad. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss again to distribute the dressing over the salad.

Raspberry vinegar is available at many grocery stores and some specialty food stores. You can make your own by pouring hot white wine vinegar over slightly mashed fresh raspberries and allowing it to steep for 4-5 days, then straining out the raspberries. A quart of vinegar to about 1 C of raspberries will work just fine. Remember, the sweeter the raspberries and the nicer the white wine vinegar, the better your raspberry vinegar will taste.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Purslane Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Shareholders Steve and Zoe in love ... with strawberries

Here's what Farmer John had for us in Silver Lake this week:

Avocados
Navel oranges
Daikon radish
Russian kale
Beets
Red chard
Onions
Arugula
Dandelion greens
Romaine
Squash blossoms
Garlic chives
Mixed herbs
Purslane

And here's what Tara brought down from McGrath Family Farm, certified organic growers in Camarillo:

Beets
Carrots
Haricot verts
Red chard
Spring onions
Baby arugula
Dandelion greens
Mixed lettuces
Baby summer squash
Strawberries

Purslane has a reputation for being a somewhat ubiquitous weed that's easy to grow, but ironically many people have never heard of it, and even fewer have tasted it. It's a delightful green with a bright, lemony flavor akin to sorrel. It can be eaten raw or cooked; and it's lovely simply thrown into a green or mixed salad.

Here's a simple dish using several of this week's vegetables plus a few more that you might have growing in your garden or can pick up from your local farmer's market. It only takes a few minutes to whip up this light and delicious salad.

Purslane Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

1 bunch purslane
1 large heirloom tomato
2 Persian cucumbers
1/2 small red onion
1-2 small ripe avocado
1/2 C loosely packed chopped Italian parsley
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
2-3 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-2 T red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash, dry, and pull the leaves off the purslane. Place in a bowl. Compost the stems.

2. Wash, dry, and coarsely chop the heirloom tomato and place in the bowl with the purslane.

3. Wash, dry, and halve lengthwise the Persian cucumbers, then chop crosswise in 1/4inch slices and add to the bowl.

4. Thinly slice lengthwise half of a small red onion. Then cut the slices in half (or thirds) crosswise and add to the bowl.

5. Halve the avocado(s) lengthwise. Remove the pit(s). Cut the flesh of each half lengthwise and crosswise into medium dice and scoop out from the skin and into the bowl.

6. Add the chopped parsley to the bowl.

7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

8. In a separate small bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients until well-combined to make the lemon vinaigrette. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss, and correct the seasoning, if necessary.

This salad is also very nice with the addition of chopped fresh mint. Another variation to consider is adding a little minced fresh garlic to the lemon vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Salade Nicoise

What a bountiful week!

Here's what Farmer John had for us in Silver Lake this week:

Navel oranges
Avocados
Daikon radish
Red radishes
Red & golden beets
Curly green kale (pictured below)
Green chard
Tat soi
Arugula
Romaine lettuce
Dandelion greens
Tomatoes
Squash blossoms
Mixed herbs

And here's what Tara and Danielle brought down from McGrath Family Farm, certified organic growers in Camarillo:

Carrots
Forono beets
Black kale
Red chard
Spring onions (that's what Danielle is holding below)
Sweet corn
Baby arugula
Mixed greens
Green string beans
Strawberries

When I saw the beautiful strings beans at the CSA pick-up this week, I thought Salade Nicoise. I learned to make Salade Nicoise in 1977 in a class on the regional foods and wines of France. In that class, our Salade Nicoise was built on a base of blanched string beans, boiled potatoes, and butter lettuce. It also had oil-packed, canned tuna, anchovies, olives, red onion, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and fresh parsley all in a Dijon mustard vinaigrette.

Since then, I've enhanced my recipe with the addition of capers, fresh basil, and lemon juice; and I've embraced the California version using fresh, seared Ahi tuna, at least some of the time.

Over the years, I've eaten many Nicoise salads and I've seen other ingredients included such as fresh or roasted red peppers; mixed greens, especially arugula, instead of or in addition to butter lettuce; and balsamic vinegar dressings.

Here's a nice blueprint for this lovely composed salad. Don't sweat it if you don't have (or don't like) all the ingredients, it's a wonderful full-meal salad however you make it.

Salade Nicoise

Serves 2

2 C loosely packed butter lettuce or mixed greens
1/4 lb small or thin string beans, blanched and cooled
4 smallish new potatoes, boiled until just tender and cooled
1 can oil-packed tuna
1 medium tomato,sliced lengthwise into 6-8 sections
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
1-2 T thinly sliced red onion
8-10 black Nicoise olives, or more to taste
4 canned anchovy fillets, or more to taste
1 T capers, or more to taste
1 T chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 T chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

For the Dressing:
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T wine or cider vinegar
1 T fresh-squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste
1-2 t prepared Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

1. Briskly mix together all the ingredients for the dressing until emulsified. Set aside.

2. Wash and dry the lettuces and/or greens. Break into bite-sized pieces. Toss with 1-2 T of the dressing. Arrange dressed greens on 2 plates.

3. Toss the blanched string beans with 1 t of the dressing and arrange half the beans in a small stack on each plate.

4. Slice the potatoes and fan out half the slices on each plate. Drizzle with a few drops of dressing.

5. Drain and flake the tuna. Divide among the 2 plates.

6. Arrange half the tomato sections and one quartered hard-boiled egg on each of the 2 plates.

7. Scatter the finely sliced onion, olives, and capers among the 2 plates. Drape 2 anchovy fillets on each plate. Sprinkle with the chopped herbs, salt and pepper to taste, and drizzle with the remaining dressing.

If you don't have Nicoise olives, you can substitute Kalamata olives or dried black olives. If you like your salads more heavily dressed, double the dressing recipe.

Enjoy!

Shelley