Thayer in the Kitchen

2 hearts of romaine lettuce, thinly sliced into ribbons 1 cup thinly sliced celery 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions 1/4 cup fresh chopped dill 1/4 cup fresh chopped mint 1 clove garlic, minced 1/4 cup lemon juice 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 t. salt 1/4 t. pepper Combine vegetables in a large bowl. Whisk together dressing and drizzle over salad and toss. Adapted from Clean & Delicious  

We picked up our CSA box of vegetables on this lovely Saturday morning.  After our heat last week, it was wonderful to be able to go outside and not feel like you were walking into an oven.  Next we went to the Westside farmers' market in Madison.  Its a great place to be able to fill in some of the gaps in your "box."  I purchased candy onions as well as another interesting variety (forgot the name) from Blue Moon Community Farm. Kristen has an excellent website with some wonderful recipes.  A friend is a member of her CSA and has shared her recipes over the years.  Now Kristen has many of them posted so you can all try and enjoy them.  http://www.bluemooncommunityfarm.com/recipes/ .  We stopped to buy tomatoes from Real Food farms from Athens Wisconsin.  They are a certified organic farm that is able to offer tomatoes earlier than many other farmers because they practice "tunnel farming" or hoop ...

According to the original recipe this is classic salad from Burgundy, France.  It can be served as a lunch dish since it includes eggs.  Its quite different but we liked it and I have made it twice.  These days with all the lettuce and greens from our CSA farm I continue to try recipes that turn them into meals rather than a little side salad.  Garlic Croutons 4 slices bread rubbed with olive oil on both sides.  Sprinkle with garlic salt or granulated garlic (from Penzey's).  Bake 10 minutes at 325 degrees.  Turn the bread over and bake for another 10 minutes.  Cut into squares.  You could also use purchased croutons. The original recipe called for making a mustard vinaigrette dressing with olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and parsley.  I didn't do this. I used some balsamic vinaigrette I happened to have in the frig.  You could also use a bottled dressing of your choice. Take several slices of bacon, dice and cook ...

The amounts are not important in this salad, but it's a lovely salad when you start gettng local strawberries and lettuce or salad greens.  A large bowl of lettuce or salad greens 1-2 cups of sliced strawberries 1/2 cup or more of crumbled feta cheese 1/2 cup toasted walnuts or pecans The dressing: 1/3 cup mashed strawberries 3 tablespoons balsamic vingegar (I used some raspberry balsamic which was perfect in this dressing) 1 tablespoon sugar 1/4 cup olive oil or more if you prefer salt and pepper Whisk together ingredients and pour over the salad.

This salad is delicious and super quick and easy if you're in a hurry to get dinner ready. It tastes as good as it looks! 1 2-1/4-pound purchased roasted chicken, chilled (Whole Foods-Madison has their roast chicken's on sale on Tuesdays) 5-ounces spring greens (about 8 cups) or a mixture of greens & lettuce 2 cups fresh sliced strawberries 2-3 ounces Gorgonzola or blue cheese, crumbled (1 cup) 1/2 cup roasted cashews Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (I used Annie's) If you have time you could cook one of Jen Ehr's wonderful chickens to use in the salad. In case you don't though, Whole Foods already roasted chicken is quite tasty. This is pretty much a local foods production especially if you used a chicken from one of the local farms. My greens and strawberries were both from my Jen Ehr CSA box and the cheese from the Madison Westside farmers' market. Adapted from a Better Homes & Garden Recipe (bhg.com)

I haven't posted any recipes for a few days but that doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking away with the veggies from our box. I borrowed this one from another blogger, A Good Appetite, the Minneapolis couple who love to eat. Their comment about the recipe, "The seasoning of the lamb was very flavorful & slightly middle eastern. I really enjoyed the texture of the almonds & the saltiness of the olives. The warm filling was really nice against the cool crispness of the lettuce though you could easily serve it in a pita or on top of some couscous or rice." I agree that its delicious and quick to prepare. Lamb Lettuce Wraps 1 T olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 lb ground lamb 1 t cumin 1/2 t coriander 1/2 t black pepper 1/2 t turmeric 1/2 c chopped green olives 1/4 c tomato paste 1/4 c sliced almonds large romaine lettuce leaves, washed & dried Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion & sauté until just tender. Add lamb ...

This is a recipe for another one of our favorite green salads. The original recipe called for iceberg (yuck) and romaine lettuce. You can use salad greens. I used our Red Boston lettuce the we got in our CSA box. Arthur said its some of the best lettuce he's ever had; very tender and delicate. The original recipe called for you to caramelize the almonds which I didn't bother to do. 1/2 cup almonds bowl of salad greens or lettuce 1 can (11 oz.) mandarin orange sections, drained 2 stalks celery, sliced 2 green onions, sliced 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley Dressing: 3 tablespoons canola or sunflower oil 2 tablespoons vinegar (I used white wine vinegar) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon sugar Combine salad ingredients, sprinkle with the almonds just before serving. Prepare dressing by mixing or shaking all the ingredients together. Pour as much over the salad as you prefer.

In an earlier post I mentioned getting a very large head of romaine lettuce. The following soup is one of the things I used it for. Lettuce Soup--I know it sounds a little weird, but it turned out very well. We both liked it. Chilled Lettuce Soup 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1/2 tablespoon oil 1 cup sliced leek (or substitute green onions from CSA box) 1 medium shallot (believe it or not I still had a few left from a winter box) 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth 10 ounces romaine lettuce or any other green or salad mix, chopped (I didn't measure and the amount isn't important) 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced (about 2 1/2 cups) Salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoon or a bit more chopped fresh dill (I think other herbs would also work--but the dill was great) 1/2 cup 1/2 and 1/2 (or enough to get the consistency you want) Melt butter in large pot. Add oil, leek or green onions and shallot. You could also use some garlic scapes. Cover and cook until vegetables are soften...

We got a gigantic head of Romaine lettuce in our CSA box on Saturday. I made this salad on Sunday night. Arthur said it was "delicious." Artichoke, Romaine and Tomato Salad Ingredients for dressing: 1 12 ounce jar marinated artichoke salad (or you could use all artichokes), drained (use 1/2 of the the artichokes or vegetables in the dressing--save the balance for the salad) 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or green onions 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 2 teaspoons honey 1/3 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup or more of the marinade from the artichokes Blend the dressing ingredients in a food processor. Taste and add more oil if you think it needs it. Chill for 1/2 hour to let flavors develop or just eat it right away. Its still very good. A large bowl of torn Romaine lettuce 1/4 cup green onions 1 cup or more grape tomatoes (halved) 2 large red radishes, sliced thinly marinated artichoke hearts leftover fr...

I mentioned I was going to a CHEW meeting before I went home last night. I did some shopping at Willy Street Co-op http://www.willystreet.coop/ Its a great resource. I purchased a couple of deli items for my lunch, Curry Cashew Chicken Salad and Caribbean Sweet Potato Black Bean Salad. I'd really like to get the recipe for the sweet potato salad. The presenters at the meeting were Joe and Ruby Cabibbo who run Cabibbo's Bakery. Their main products are biscotti and other Sicilian breads. www.cabibbosbakery.com They had lots of good samples at the meeting. When I got home I roasted the last of the corn on the cob that we got at the farmers' market. I roasted it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. You just put it on the oven rack without husking. Its very tasty and super easy to do. I finally made the Turkey Salad with Cranberries and Pecans (adapted from a recipe from an American Institute for Cancer Research newsletter) 2 cups (8oz.) diced cooked turkey bre...