Strawberry Arugula Salad with Rosemary Vinaigrette

Our first CSA box is in, and with it a whole lot of questions about what to do with our beautiful bounty.  Many salads come to mind with this first batch...so many leafy greens!  And many many more salads are yet to come.  I decided to make the inaugural dish from out CSA box  using a recipe provided by the farm.  The green garlic, rosemary, strawberries, arugula, potato onions, and mint were all provided in this week.  Everything else...mustard, almonds, oil, vinegar, lemon, and honey...I already had on hand.  


This is shaping up to be a tasty, tasty summer!

recipe courtesy of Driftless Organics

serves 3-4


The Ingredients:
for the dressing

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar  
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp green garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp honey
salt & pepper to taste
 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

for the salad:
 pint strawberries, sliced
4 cups arugula or mixed greens (I used half arugula, half spinach to cut the peppery bite)
2-3 potato onions, thinly sliced
3-4 Tbsp rosemary vinaigrette (or any vinaigrette)
¼ cup fresh mint, cut chiffonade
¼ cup chopped almonds, toasted

The Process:
for the dressing
Combine the first seven in a bowl and blend with and immersion blender.  Or combine in a blender.  While machine is running, slowly pour in oil until emulsified.  Store in the fridge for two to three weeks.

for the salad
In a large serving bowl, toss strawberries, arugula, onions, and mint with the vinaigrette.   Top nuts and serve immediately.

The Review:
 I couldn't have asked for a better recipe to show case all of our produce's glory.  This salad was everything that I look for in a leafy green dish...crispy greens with some variety and a bit of flavor (I cannot remember the last time I actually had iceburg lettuce), a bit of sweet from the strawberries, a bit of sour from the dressing, an interesting twist from the mint and a bit of crunch from the nuts.  Something with a bit more substantial salt could have sent this through the rough...I am a huge fan of a bit of feta or blue cheese crumbles on top of my salads.  But with ingredients as fresh and bursting with flavor as this, the cheese was not missed much.  The only change I made from Driftless Organic's original was to blend the arugula with spinach (also in our box this week).  Arugula on its own always seemed a bit too aggressive to me.  


The dressing had a wonderfully deep, sour yet slightly sweet flavor.  The rosemary came through and complemented the vinegar so well.   That piney touch added such a wonderful depth when paired with the sweet berries and grassy mint.  The dressing lasted quite a while and was enjoyed on many an additional salad.


It's a pity the part of Wisconsin our farm in located in has had such a hot dry spell as of late.  It looks as though the berries may be kaput for the rest of the season.  The growing season is indeed short compared to our winters.  We will surely savor our veggies while we are able to get them so fresh!

Zucchini Keftedes with Feta and Dill

Zucchini is everywhere right now. Only so many of these slender green squash can be turned into stir fry, zucchini bread, or oven roasted side dishes. These fritters in Bon Appetit caught my eye a while back. We'll see if this turns into a new go-to recipe for summer's excess bounty.

adapted from "Easter goes Greek" in Bon Appetit, April 2011

12 servings

The Ingredients:
1 1/3 lbs medium zucchini, trimmed
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp lemon peel, finely grated
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup panko
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup feta, coarsely crumbled
canola oil (for frying)

The Process:
Grate zucchini onto a clean kitchen towel or several layers of fine cheesecloth. Sprinkle with coarse salt and let stand at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Gather up the towel or cheesecloth around the zucchini and twist to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

Place shredded zucchini in a medium bowl. Mix in green onion, dill, mint, garlic, lemon peel and black pepper. Gently stir in panko and egg. Fold in feta. Using approximately 2 Tbsp of the zucchini mixture for each fritter, shape a 1 3/4 - 2 inch patty. Place on a baking sheet and chill for at least 1 hour.

Pour enough canola oil in a large, heavy skillet to reach a depth of 1/4 inch. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add patties to the skillet. Fry until golden brown and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove patties with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain.

Serve warm or room temperature with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

The Review:
I'm not sure what went wrong during the process, but as soon as my keftedes hit the oil most of them disintegrated. Perhaps my mixture needed more binder, more panko and egg than the recipe called for. Or perhaps I hadn't drained the zucchini well enough before combining all of the ingredients.

Those that remained intact were lovely. Nothing special really in my book...but tasty. The flavor was incredibly reminiscent of something else I had tried. It took me awhile to place the flavor as the quinoa, dill and feta salad I had transformed into patties in an earlier recipe. Given the amount of time and flavor of the finished product...I much preferred the quinoa, zucchini and dill patties.

Vietnamese Springs Rolls

Near downtown Honolulu lies a small pedestrian mall lined with hole in the wall cafes and lunch spots from every corner of the world. I was blessed to be within walking distance of culinary tour of the globe. One favorite lunch was the Vietnamese spring rolls from either Fort Street Cafe or Ba Le Sandwich Shop. These rolls were not of the deep fried variety, but rather fresh rolls of mint, basil, rice vermicelli and either shrimp or tofu skillfully wrapped in translucence rice paper. The little works of art were almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

Many filling variations of the fresh spring rolls (or summer rolls if you prefer) exist. I tried to replicate the flavors and textures from my favorite lunch spots as best as my memory would allow.

Makes 4 rolls

The Ingredients:
2-3 oz rice vermicelli (rice sticks)
4 spring roll wrappers (rice paper rounds)
12-16 medium shrimp, cooked, shelled and deveined
8-12 mint leaves
8-12 basil leaves
4 springs of cilantro or parsley
4 small lettuce leaves (romaine or bibb)
1 medium carrot, julianned or shredded
peanut sauce or other dipping sauce

The Process:
In a large sauce pan bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Add the rice vermicelli and cook for 3-5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Fill a shallow baking tray (my 10" Pyrex pie plate worked beautifully) with hot water and place one spring roll wrapper into the water until soft (about 15-20 seconds). Remove from water and gently transfer to a damp cloth or paper towel. Line 3-4 shrimp down the center of the wrapper. Layer the mint, basil, parsley/cilantro and lettuce leaf over the shrimp. Arrange one quarter of the carrot shreds over the greenery. Mound one quarter of the cooked vermicelli over the vegetables. Gently fold the lower half of the wrapper over the filling. Fold in the sides,encasing the filling and then roll the wrapper upwards. Repeat with remaining 3 wrappers and filling.

Serve with dipping sauces of your choice.

The Review:
Don't fret if the first few do not turn out as beautifully as you hope. The sticky rice paper is an exercise in small motor skills, patience and anger management. I didn't create a successful roll until my third attempt. And even then, the resultant rolls were far from photogenic. However the flavors and textures were everything I remember of these quick and healthy lunches. The dominate flavor in my memory had always been the mint and I found 2 to three leaves per roll easily provided the flavors I recalled. Yet the mint was not so strong as to overshadow the shrimp. Ba Le also had an amazing marinated tofu version of the spring roll...but that is a challenge for another day.