Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The Trouble With Salads

The following post is the result of me being a very spoiled brat. No one should complain about the things I'm about to complain about. Keep in mind that I am every day thankful and I have nothing bad to say, really, about the wonderful fresh bounty of the earth that comes from my CSA. But I'm a whiner by nature, so here goes: what the freakin frak do I do with all the greens?
Every CSA I've heard of is a little lopsided somehow - bushels of tomatoes or pounds of potatoes; mine shells out bags and bags and bags of salad greens (in Ziploc just to be contradictory I think). They're delicious and there is no end to the variety (Mizuna, Totsoi, Red Romaine, Baby Spinach, Arugula, Micro Greens, Pea Shoots, Corn Shoots, Flowering Chervil, Red Lola Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Bok Choy Blossoms), but seriously, how many different ways can you combine leaves and grass? For what makes up dinner 3 nights a week I need some new ideas. I feel like I've tried everything:
Here with radishes and an unidentified greenery (we're pretty sure it's just clover picked from some meadow).
Here with Nasturtium Blossoms.
Here with Pomegranate Seeds and Prosciutto
Here with tomatoes and hard boiled eggs (and a flop of a dill and salmon soup, blech).
I've added avocados, feta, goat cheese, parmesan, blue cheese, pears, nutritional yeast, chicken, olives, pine nuts, almonds.
I know, I know, it's a pretty good problem to have. But...new ideas for salad greens, please? Anyone? Help?

6 comments:

Melanie said...

Hmmm... you did what I do with salad meals - put meat on them (I usually do grilled chicken). I also like dried cranberries and balsamic vinegar. If your greens are really fresh and tender, I have a lovely cream dressing I could eat all day on them. I'm going to put the recipe up on my blog as soon as our farmer's market opens this year (next week).

I think I forgot to tell you - I'm doing a csa subscription this year! I'm so excited about it - it's a little different than the box csa. It's a prepaid credit at one of the farmer's market stands. I get to pick up whatever I want whenever I want and it comes off my prepaid credit (with a little discount). That will be perfect for us!

Billi London-Gray said...

Just add chips and salsa. I know Zeb will approve.

Roll 'em up in a tortilla with some peppers and cucumbers and tomatoes and hummus for a nicely stuffed sandwich roll.

Or top with...
Marinated cold tofu
Sour cream, dill and red potatoes (cold)
Seaside Cheddar and raw smoked salmon from Whole Foods
Apple slices, halved grapes, raisins and creamy poppyseed dressing...

I wish I had your problem.

meg said...

Great, now I'm hungry. I feel your pain, really I do. I feel like our fridge is either stuffed or empty and I need to get a handle on eating what's in there, and with our CSA starting next week I can already feel the anxiety brewing about what the heck I'm going to do with an abundance of veggies (prolly mostly salad greens) every week.

I have no other suggestions other than what you've done or what's already been suggested except a variety of cheeses (we like all kinds of the stinky varieties) and more seafood options on top.

Valerie said...

I was about to suggest grilled chicken on top, but Mel beat me to it. My only other thought is that some of them can go in between breads and meats in the form of sandwiches, but that looks pretty tricky with most of them.

Axon said...

I'm beginning to believe that it is all in the dressing. Me-who just dumps cheap olive oil and vinegar on any salad-is willing to branch out into salad-dressing land. Mel, get that recipe up.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sarah! I've found that those fresh little greens make an amazing pesto that works on pastas and grilled meats. I toss them into my food processor, add a few garlic cloves, a little salt, an handful of pinenuts,a little peppery olive oil, and zip them into a sauce - oh so good! This is also a fantastic way to enjoy the differences of each variety.
Shannon