The garden is growing by leaps and bounds, and it's the time of year when it's more fun than a chore to eat seasonally for lots of folks. Eating seasonally gets easier as summer's bounty comes rolling in, and although we had a cold spring, things are really catching up...in fact, I'll be picking my first zucchini by Saturday by the looks of things! Produce seems like it's been a long time coming, but once we get to this point of the year, it seems like new things are ready to be picked weekly. It's one of the main reasons we expanded our hours to Tuesdays as well- a lot of produce, like green beans, cucumbers, zucchini & more benefit from being picked at least twice weekly. Opening another day of the week gave me another chance to sell our fresh organic produce rather than canning it all. Tuesdays, especially early like this in the farm stand season, can be kind of hard to calculate in terms of how much I need to pick for the stand, because the number of folks that stop varies quite a bit from week to week.
Sometimes, like last night, I had more than a little fresh stuff left at 6 PM, so it's only logical that I figure out how to use it for dinner. This week screamed salad as I had salad mix, a blend of heirloom lettuces and other greens (including the possibility of chard, arugula, spinach, endive, mustard greens, or whatever else is growing!) as well as radishes and spring onions. I'd made chicken salad recently and it was great, but I only had ground beef thawed last night. Then I remembered a great Rachel Ray recipe for a mini burger salad. I'm not usually a huge fan of Rach, mostly because her recipes rely on more processed foods than I generally use. I'm less concerned about having things ready in 30 minutes and more focused on using whole ingredients we produce ourselves. But this recipe is a winner in my house, and like any salad, I feel free to play around with the list of ingredients depending on what's seasonal or strikes my fancy! So, if you're intrigued or wondering what to make for dinner tonight, here is my take on
Mini Cheeseburger Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette (serves 2):
Mini Burgers:
1 lb grass fed ground beef
Worcestershire sauce
Salt & pepper or seasoning blend of your choice
Form the ground meat into 12 or so meatballs and flatten to look like little burgers. Heat a good sized cast iron skillet, and season to taste with the Worcestershire and seasonings. Using our own Dexter beef, I like to use minimal spicing. It's got such a good taste on its own I don't drown it in Montreal Steak seasoning or anything. But flavor to your own taste! Cook to your own preferred level of doneness.
In the meantime, prepare the salad and dressing:
Mustard Vinaigrette:
Combine 3 Tbsp mustard, 2 Tbsp white wine or apple cider vinegar, plus around 1/2 cup or so good olive oil. Add chopped fresh seasonal herbs (like chives!) to taste. I like to mix mine in a 8 oz (jelly) mason jar- just add all the ingredients and shake well to combine. The original recipe calls for yellow mustard, which is surprisingly good, but I like to mix it up with whatever mustard I'm loving at the moment!
Salad:
Get out a nice big plate. Cover it with:
-Salad Mix or greens of your choice
-sliced radishes
-chopped spring onions
-any other seasonal produce you'd like
-a handful of chopped pickles (dill, bread & butter, any you like)- don't omit these, it really makes the salad!
Top with mini burgers hot out of the pan. Top burger salad with grated cheese (we like smoked cheddar, but be bold and try any you like/have handy!). Finally, give the dressing another shake and drizzle over your salads and enjoy!
Sometimes, like last night, I had more than a little fresh stuff left at 6 PM, so it's only logical that I figure out how to use it for dinner. This week screamed salad as I had salad mix, a blend of heirloom lettuces and other greens (including the possibility of chard, arugula, spinach, endive, mustard greens, or whatever else is growing!) as well as radishes and spring onions. I'd made chicken salad recently and it was great, but I only had ground beef thawed last night. Then I remembered a great Rachel Ray recipe for a mini burger salad. I'm not usually a huge fan of Rach, mostly because her recipes rely on more processed foods than I generally use. I'm less concerned about having things ready in 30 minutes and more focused on using whole ingredients we produce ourselves. But this recipe is a winner in my house, and like any salad, I feel free to play around with the list of ingredients depending on what's seasonal or strikes my fancy! So, if you're intrigued or wondering what to make for dinner tonight, here is my take on
Mini Cheeseburger Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette (serves 2):
Mini Burgers:
1 lb grass fed ground beef
Worcestershire sauce
Salt & pepper or seasoning blend of your choice
Form the ground meat into 12 or so meatballs and flatten to look like little burgers. Heat a good sized cast iron skillet, and season to taste with the Worcestershire and seasonings. Using our own Dexter beef, I like to use minimal spicing. It's got such a good taste on its own I don't drown it in Montreal Steak seasoning or anything. But flavor to your own taste! Cook to your own preferred level of doneness.
In the meantime, prepare the salad and dressing:
Mustard Vinaigrette:
Combine 3 Tbsp mustard, 2 Tbsp white wine or apple cider vinegar, plus around 1/2 cup or so good olive oil. Add chopped fresh seasonal herbs (like chives!) to taste. I like to mix mine in a 8 oz (jelly) mason jar- just add all the ingredients and shake well to combine. The original recipe calls for yellow mustard, which is surprisingly good, but I like to mix it up with whatever mustard I'm loving at the moment!
Salad:
Get out a nice big plate. Cover it with:
-Salad Mix or greens of your choice
-sliced radishes
-chopped spring onions
-any other seasonal produce you'd like
-a handful of chopped pickles (dill, bread & butter, any you like)- don't omit these, it really makes the salad!
Top with mini burgers hot out of the pan. Top burger salad with grated cheese (we like smoked cheddar, but be bold and try any you like/have handy!). Finally, give the dressing another shake and drizzle over your salads and enjoy!