Fresh Corn & Tomato Salad w/Summer Basil

Hi everyone!  It's been a long, long time.  While I have not been blogging, I have been working.

I have several bits of exciting news!

**First, we will be offering a Canning Class, September 28, 2010 at the beautiful showrooms of Mountain High Appliance, in old town Louisville.  The class will cover canning basics and will be a hands-on experience.    I will send out details over the weekend.

** Second, I have been working with Miller Farm's lately, and you can visit me at the Fort Collins Farmer's Market (Harmony & Lemay), most sundays.

** Finally, I have been hired by the St. Vrain School District to work with their food service program and help make OUR community school's lunch program reflect our growing desire to provide more nutritious local food to our kids.  The truth is, the director and her staff feed 17,000 students a day and they already receive 30% of their produce from local farms.  Think about it.. Your local school district is ALREADY thinking local, eating local and putting our tax dollars into our local economy.
   While Boulder County receives the press for what they're doing (and I am happy for them), you need to know that our forward thinking Director of Nutrition, Shelly Allen,  is doing it on a much larger scale, and with less conflict, and more buy in from her staff.    You have no idea how exciting it is to be working with someone so supportive and innovative of our community.  Keep your eyes posted for this woman's name, she's impressive and I am very lucky to be part of her program.

So, enough with the news...

No need to use the oven or stove... just cut, chop, and toss and your finished.

This is my "salad de jour" for the summer.....

Summer Corn andHeirloom Tomato Salad

4 ears fresh summer corn, husks removed, cut corn from the cob

2 large heirloom tomatoes, cored, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

(or use the small grape sized, cut in half)

1/4 of a red onion, cut into 1/4 inch pieces, rinsed in cold water

8-10 basil leaved, chopped

1/4 cup goat or sheep feta (or your favorite local cheese)

2 Strips Bacon, diced and cooked crisp (optional)

Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

Fresh Lettuce leaves to garnish

Chives, to garnish

Basil, to garnish

Vinaigrette:

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3-4 Tablespoons good quality Vinegar (Champagne, red wine, Cabernet, rice wine, etc)

1/3 –1/2 cup good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a jar and shake until combined, mixture will separate, but that is fine.  Taste and adjust seasonings, it should have a nice vinegar taste (the tomatoes will mellow this out)

Combine Tomatoes, corn, and onions in a medium sized bowl, pour vinaigrette over mixture and let rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes. Chill if not serving directly.

Before serving, stir in Basil and adjust seasonings,  place a few lettuce leaves on the salad plate, top plate with 1/2-cup corn tomato mixture, layer with feta, bacon (if using), additional basil, and chives, and fresh ground pepper. Enjoy.

**Please note: only the freshest summer vegetables work with this salad.  Most corn bought at the store will be too starchy to showcase this lovely salad. Corn used within a day or two of being picked is optimal. Also, this recipe is only a suggestion; feel free to increase the amounts, of your favorite ingredients!!

See you at the Market!

Chef Deb

Sauteed Spring Vegetable Orzo salad w/ goat cheese & spiced nuts

(I will post the photo later)

Market Orzo Salad w/ Sautéed Spring Greens, Goat Cheese & Spiced Nuts

2 cups pappardelle orzo, cooked according to directions, cool
2 Tbl olive oil
10 Asparagus spears, washed, peeled, and sliced into 1” pieces
2 cups baby Swiss chard, rinsed well
2 cups Aspen Moon Farms, Ruby Spinach or regular baby spinach
1 clove of garlic, smashed and minced (I grate mine with a microplaner)
1/3 cup spiced nuts, Chopped. (try Spice’s Cosmic Masala Pecans)
1/4 cup Haystack Coat Cheese, crumbled
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground pepper

Dressing: choose your favorite from Corner Market or:
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbl. Red wine vinegar
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Whisk ingredients together, Salt and pepper to taste.

Put cooked cooled pasta in a large bowl, and pour your dressing over the orzo. Toss and set aside.

Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add olive oil, wait one minute then add asparagus and sauté for 4-5 minutes. Next, add garlic, Swiss chard, and spinach and sauté until the greens begin to wilt. Now add chopped nuts and mix thoroughly.

Pour sautéed vegetables over the orzo and stir until completely combined. Cool slightly. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding salt, pepper, vinegar or more oil if need.

To serve: I place additional ruby spinach on a plate, top with orzo salad, and small crumbles of goat cheese and a few last grounds of fresh pepper. Enjoy!

See you at the Market!

Chef Deb.

P.S. Today is our first official Farmer's Market Dinner.. The kitchen (at least the important part) came together nicely.  I will post before and after shots of all the work we did ourselves!

To My Sous Chef Kate: Your talent, skill, ingenuity and generosity is astounding.  Thank you, Thank you.