Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

2 pounds sweet potatoes

• 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 to 1.5 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt, see notes above

• 1 to 2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper or Silk Chili, optional, see notes above

• Fresh lime juice to taste, optional

FOR THE SALAD: 

• ⅓ cup pine nuts or other nut: almonds, walnuts, pecans, macadamia, etc.

• 5 ounces mixed greens, preferably a mix of sturdy greens like head lettuce with a smaller amount of Arugula or other tender greens

• Flaky sea salt

• Freshly cracked black pepper

• 4 ounces cubed cheese such as Gruyere, Gouda, or Cheddar or crumbled goat cheese or feta

• The best salad dressing in the world

Roast the sweet potatoes: Preheat the oven to 400ºF. While the oven preheats, peel the potatoes, then dice them into ½-inch cubes, roughly. Place the diced cubes on a rimmed sheet pan. Toss them with the melted coconut oil or olive oil, salt (1.5 teaspoons unless you are sensitive to salt), and 1 to 2 teaspoons of Aleppo Pepper or Silk chili or to taste. Transfer to the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Check on the sweet potatoes to ensure they are browning evenly, stir them, then return the pan to the oven for another 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let the sweet potatoes cool for 5 minutes on the sheet pan. Using a spatula, release the sweet potatoes from the pan. Taste. Add more flaky sea salt to taste, and, if you wish, a squeeze of lime. 

Toast the nuts: Place the pine nuts in a small skillet set over low heat. Let the pine nuts toast slowly over this low heat while you prepare the rest of the salad. 

Assemble the salad: Place the greens in a large bowl. Season with a pinch of sea salt and toss gently to combine. Add the cheese. Add the roasted sweet potatoes to taste (1 to 1.5 cups), and the toasted pine nuts when they have fully toasted (I crank up the heat once everything is assembled). Season with pepper to taste.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss gently. Taste. The greens should be lightly dressed but should taste seasoned. Add salt, pepper, and more dressing to taste. Once the seasonings are right, serve immediately.

Smitten Kitchen's Chopped Salad with Feta, Lime, Mint and Sunflower Seeds

A flexible keeper to hold onto for all season.

Chopped Salad with Feta, Lime, Mint and Sunflower Seeds

3 cups chopped, crunchy vegetables like radishes, cucmbers,carrots, peppers, etc.

2 cups thinly sliced lettuce
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta, queso fresco or ricotta salata
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup well-toasted sunflower seeds, salted or unsalted
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon coarse or Kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon chile powder or 1/8 teaspoon each your choice combination of chile powder, cumin, cayenne or sumac
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint leaves

Mix the vegetables, feta, scallions, seeds and mint in a medium bowl. Whisk lime juice, olive oil, salt, spice and black pepper in a small dish and pour over vegetables, tossing to evenly coat. Adjust with more salt or pepper as needed. Garnish with mint and crunch-crunch-crunch away!

The Best salad dressing in the world for spring salads

This is my favorite dressing ever. You will never buy dressing again. All you need for a spring salad is this and your greens and maybe a few sliced radishes.

You do need an immersion blender which is one of the few appliances I feel is pretty essential to the CSA kitchen. It emulsifies the dressing beautifully making a beautiful creamy vinaigrette.

The Sherry vinegar is also pretty essential though you can sub in whatever you have. Sherry vinegar feels fancy but you can get it at Big Y in in the vinegar section and it really ups your salad game.

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1 glug maple syrup

1 squirt brown mustard (or any mustard you have on hand)

salt to taste

a few grinds pepper

1 glove garlic, a garlic scape or 1 green garlic, chopped

Add all ingredients to a container (a wide mouthed quart mass jar works great for easy storage). Insert your immersion blender and blend until smooth and creamy. You can also add in some fresh herbs (parsley is great) prior to blending if you like.

Summer Salad with Herbed Dressing

Summer Salad with Herbed Dressing

1 big head of lettuce - any variety
Toppings: Your choice of thinly sliced vegetables - for example: radish, turnip, cucumber or snap peas.
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic scape
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Whisk vinegar and salt til salt dissolves. Add dill, mustard and garlic scape and whisk to combine. Slowly drizzle in olive oil, whisking slowly, 'til emulsified. Shred lettuce and add other vegetables. Pour dressing over salad and toss til coated.

This dressing comes from Kitchn.com - it's delicious and also inspiring as an example because there are lots of dressing recipes out there, and a new dressing flavor can change the salad game completely.

Pamela's Fresh Pea Soup

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 small head of lettuce, shredded
a hand full of fresh spinach
1 tbsp chopped parsley
5 cups fresh young shelling peas
5 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup uncooked white rice
2 tsps sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint
1 cup milk
fresh mint sprigs

Heat butter and oil in pot, add garlic, sauté. Add lettuce, spinach, and parley, cook and stir until vegetables wilt. Add peas and 3 cups of stock. Cover pot, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat. In food processor, process in batches until coarsely processed. Return to pot, add remaining stock, and bring to boil. Add rice, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes. Add sugar, salt, pepper, mint, and milk. Heat slowly, stirring until soup is hot. Do not boil. Garnish with mint sprigs. Makes about 7 cups.

 From Shepherd's Garden Seed Catalog