Farmshare Day 3: Avocado, Grapefruit, and Spinach Salad with Maple-Sherry Vinaigrette

100% Farmshare.  100% Delicious.  And a recipe that’s 100% foolproof.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2, as an entree salad

For the Salad:
1 avocado, diced
1 grapefruit, sectioned, with pith removed, and juices from discarded sections reserved.  Good directions on how to do this can be found here.
1 handful baby spinach, rinsed and spun dry

For the Vinaigrette:
Juice from grapefruit sections
1-2T maple syrup
1-2 T EVOO
1 T sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Arrange salad ingredients in a bowl.
2. Whisk together vinaigrette ingredients.  Pour over salad.  Depending on how much grapefruit juice you have, you might not need all of the dressing.
3. Top with some freshly ground black pepper and serve.

Farmshare Day 2: Quick Lentils, Potatoes, and Spinach with Curried Tarka

Richly spiced, hearty lentils and a leafy promise of Spring make a dish that smells as good as it tastes.  A tarka is a delectable combination of fat and spices, added to the lentils just before serving.  Divine.  

I use olive oil in just about anything because it’s unequivocally a healthy fat, but you may wish to use vegetable oil or butter or ghee if you don’t like the olive oil flavor.

I had no cooked grains around and didn’t have time to wait to cook them, so I made this whole wheat/flaxseed flatbread with onion and cumin seeds to accompany our meal.  It had a nice onion kulcha effect. 

When I perfect the recipe, I’ll pass it on. In the meantime, try my Chickpea-Flax Skillet Flatbread.

I’m having so much fun with my Winter farmshare!  

Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4 with rice or flatbread

1 onion, diced
2 T vegetable oil or olive oil or, if you’re feeling daring, ghee
2 potatoes, diced
1 c lentils, yellow or brown
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 handful baby spinach
1/2 c milk, cream, coconut milk, soy milk, or soy creamer, or more to taste.  Yogurt might work here too.
salt

Tarka:
1 T curry powder
2 T butter, ghee, vegetable oil, olive oil, or “good fat” margarine like benecol or smart balance
zest of one lemon
1 pinch salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, sweat the onions and a pinch of salt for 3-5 minutes.  Meanwhile, chop and add the potatoes.
2. Add the lentils and stir.  Add the stock or water, bring to a boil, and reduce heat.  Simmer until lentils are just tender.  This can take as little as 10 minutes for yellow lentils and 20-30 minutes for brown lentils.  Add liquid if necessary.
3. Meanwhile, in a small skillet over medium heat, melt the butter/ghee/margarine or heat the oil until shimmering.  Stir in the lemon zest.  When fragrant, add the curry powder and a pinch of salt.  Stir, then turn off the heat.
4. Stir the tarka into the lentils.  Turn off the heat.  Add the spinach and stir in — it will wilt on contact.  Stir in about half of your milk of choice for richness.  Spoon into bowls, drizzle with additional “milk,” and serve.

Green Salad with Pomegranate, Peaches, and Pepitas


Sweet late summer peaches and glistening ruby pomegranate jewels pop over a bed of baby spinach where pepitas and sunflower sprouts crunch. High-magnesium pepitas and anti-oxidant pomegranates make this salad burst with nutrition, too. For best results, share with friends. This is more of a list of ingredients than a recipe. All measurements should be done to taste.

Serves: 2-4-6 (depending on the proportions you use)
Time: 15 minutes, including chopping time

Ingredients:
1 pomegranate
baby spinach
sunflower sprouts
2 peaches, diced
handful mint leaves, coarsely chopped
handful pepitas

Vinaigrette:
2 T balsamic vinegar (fig-balsamic vinegar if you can find it)
3 T EVOO
1 T honey
salt and red pepper flakes to taste

1) Cut the pomegranate crosswise into ~4 slices and place the slices into a bowl of cold water. Winnow out the seeds. The pith will float to the top and you can skim it off.
2) Rinse and spin in a salad spinner the spinach, sunflower sprouts, and mint.
3) Toss together the pomegranate seeds and all other salad ingredients in a large bowl.
4) Whisk together the vinegrette and dress the salad.
5) Crunch with glee.

Green Salad with Pomegranate, Peaches, and Pepitas


Sweet late summer peaches and glistening ruby pomegranate jewels pop over a bed of baby spinach where pepitas and sunflower sprouts crunch. High-magnesium pepitas and anti-oxidant pomegranates make this salad burst with nutrition, too. For best results, share with friends. This is more of a list of ingredients than a recipe. All measurements should be done to taste.

Serves: 2-4-6 (depending on the proportions you use)
Time: 15 minutes, including chopping time

Ingredients:
1 pomegranate
baby spinach
sunflower sprouts
2 peaches, diced
handful mint leaves, coarsely chopped
handful pepitas

Vinaigrette:
2 T balsamic vinegar (fig-balsamic vinegar if you can find it)
3 T EVOO
1 T honey
salt and red pepper flakes to taste

1) Cut the pomegranate crosswise into ~4 slices and place the slices into a bowl of cold water. Winnow out the seeds. The pith will float to the top and you can skim it off.
2) Rinse and spin in a salad spinner the spinach, sunflower sprouts, and mint.
3) Toss together the pomegranate seeds and all other salad ingredients in a large bowl.
4) Whisk together the vinegrette and dress the salad.
5) Crunch with glee.