By Alyssa
As you may or may not know about me, I have strong salad opinions. To begin with, I am not fond of eating lettuce – I prefer the green bits in a salad to be mint, parsley, kale, arugula, or chicories. I think lettuce is a very pretty plant, and I like to grow it. I love that other people love it! But as far as eating goes, I find it to be watery and tasteless, and I probably waste more energy chewing it than I get from digesting it. See, I told you, strong opinions!
Secondly, I opine that it is way too much work for me, as a person living alone, to prepare all the nutritious and delicious components that a truly satisfying salad requires. If the salad is the main event of my meal, I’ll roast chickpeas or beets, boil eggs, toast nuts or pumpkin seeds, or make croutons to bulk it out. It is so much chopping! So many dishes! It’s okay if I make a big batch, but then I definitely can’t use lettuce as my green bits because it will get sad after a day in the fridge. Usually, I’d rather just eat stew. Or stir fry. Don't even get me started on bok choy stir fry – I will wax rhapsodic.
However, this time of year, when we are bringing in chicories, especially the magenta radicchio and the pretty pink rosalba, I eat more salad than I do any other time of year. My salad opinions have evolved enough over the last few years that I enjoy a lovely side salad now and again. It can be a refreshing, bright addition to a heavy, winter meal. And if I can make pink salad? Well, that’s even better. Pink salad is superior to non-pink salad.
CSA Barn Hours:
Winter hours: 2:30-6:00 PM!
Pick List:
Eggs
Sangre Red, Harvest Moon Purple, La Ratte Fingerling, and Yellow Finn Potatoes
Yaya Carrots
Rhonda Beets
Purple Daikon and Watermelon Radish Radish
Rutabaga
Purple Top Turnips
Parsnips
Celeriac
Sweet Spanish Colorado #6, Monastrell Red, Cortland Yellow, and Cipollini Onions
Shallots
Leeks
Red and Green Cabbage
Kossack Kohlrabi
Celery
Radicchio, Sugarloaf, and Rosalba
Prize Choi
Kale
Rhubarb Chard
Lettuce Mix
Parsley and Cilantro
Pie Pita Pumpkin
Gil’s Golden Acorn, Tetsukabuto, and Spaghetti Winter Squash
Ground and Whole Dried Hot Peppers
Herbal Tea Blends
Pick your own flowers and herbs (from the herb garden and perennial field)
Sonora Wheat Flour
Beef Bone Broth (Made by Olla Products)
Saltonstahl Olive Oil
Revolution Bread for sale on Tuesday and Friday
Pink salad
I made this with my partner last weekend as part of a light brunch. We did not add any other mix-ins, but ate it alongside buttered toast, soft scrambled eggs, and coffee/tea.
Basic salad ingredients
1 head of pink chicory (rosalba or raddichio) – chiffonaded into little ribbons
1 grapefruit or blood orange – supremed into wedges
1 apple (bonus points if it’s a Pink Lady) – cut into wedges, then thinly sliced
Dressing
Olive oil
Juice and zest of one citrus fruit of your choosing, or apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper
Optional mix-ins
Toasted or candied nuts
Croutons
Crumbled goat cheese or farmer’s cheese
Quartered boiled eggs
Pomegranate seeds
Whisk together dressing in a large bowl. Toss together the basic salad ingredients, and any mix-ins of your choosing. Salt and pepper to taste.
