We’ve been working away in our gardens for two months now and it doesn’t get any better than the first real harvest of the season!
With an atypical spring just behind us (a slow, cold start, followed by extreme heat early on paired with periods of drought), we’re only just beginning to see regular harvesting of radishes, lettuce, arugula, kale and collards. The delayed start has us determined to make the most of our long-awaited veggies.
To take advantage of that fresh, just-picked flavor, a couple weeks ago we held our first Garden-to-Table cooking classes right inside our Teaching Gardens, preparing a fresh spring salad with all the fixings. This is a monthly feature of our Teaching Garden program – a way to demonstrate not just how to grow great produce, but how to make the most of it all once it’s harvested.
Our garden-to-table menus are always based on seasonal produce so we get the best flavor and the most nutrition out of our vegetables. Rather than follow a set recipe, we often prefer a flexible, general formula that adapts easily as the seasons (or what we have on hand in the pantry) changes.
GREENS
(lettuces, arugula, kale)
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SEASONAL PRODUCE
(strawberries, green onions, sugar snap peas, radishes)
+
PROTEIN
(cannellini beans, pecans, sunflower seeds, Asiago cheese)
+
DRESSING
(1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil, 1 Tbsp. honey, juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon, salt and pepper to taste)
Don’t like cannellini beans? Try grilled chicken instead. Did you pick blueberries at a local farm? Toss them in! Was your lettuce a bust this season because of the heat? Opt for a grain-based salad instead with brown rice, whole wheat pasta or protein-packed quinoa in place of the greens.
And while there’s nothing wrong with store-bought dressing, making your own is super easy and means you have complete control over the ingredients, a.k.a no preservatives and no more sugar or salt than you want. To make your own, whisk together oil, an acid (like your favorite vinegar or fresh lemon juice) and seasoning of your choice (herbs, salt & pepper, honey). Whisk them all together until the ingredients emulsify, or combine. Store the mixture in the fridge for up to a week and shake it up before use any time the ingredients separate.
During our lessons, everyone helped out with preparations: cutting and washing vegetables, picking out choice greens to
throw in, and mixing the salad dressing. Everything came together in a snap, giving us plenty of time to enjoy the salad, the company, and the beautiful gardens!
What kind of seasonal recipes are you whipping up right now?