I love this time of year. The farmer’s market is huge and full of so many fresh treasures! I spent the day with my brother and brought home so many delicious treats.

Here is a great salad made from fresh savoy spinach, sweet and juice sweet Anne strawberries, candied walnuts from a local orchard and a homemade strawberry vinaigrette. And it’s delicious!

Ready to try it?

What you need:

• 4 – 6 cups fresh spinach leaves – cleaned, stemmed and torn into small pieces
• 8-10 strawberries, sliced

Walnuts

• ½ cup chopped walnut pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
• 1 teaspoon raw sugar
• Small pinch of allspice and cinnamon

Vinaigrette

• ¼ cup good quality olive oil
• 1/8 cup white wine vinegar
• 5 large, fresh strawberries
• 1 lavender blossom (fresh or dried)
• 2 arugula leaves
• ½ teaspoon salt

 

How to Do it:

First candy the walnuts. Start by heating a cast iron skillet. Drop the walnuts and butter in and shake the pan until the walnuts begin to be fragrant and start browning lightly. Add the sugar, allspice and cinnamon and continue to cook until the sugar is melted. Remove from the pan and cool.

Next make the dressing. Place all the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a blender and puree until it’s all smooth. Pour into a salad dressing bottle and chill.

                                                               

When you’re ready to eat, toss the spinach, sliced strawberries and walnuts in a large salad bowl. Dress it the way you like it (I only like a little bit) and toss until all the leaves are coated.

Serve cold – a perfect summer side dish!

Makes 4-6 servings

© Copyright 2018 The Lazy Gastronome

Here are some of the items we used to create this recipe!

Disclosure: The items below are affiliate links through Amazon.com. If you purchase any of these products through the links, I receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!

After spending three glorious days at the beach, I’m so in the mood for seafood!  I found these beautiful ahi steaks on sale and decided they would go great with the greens I already have.  And the bonus?  It’s a low fat, healthy meal too!

What you need:

• 2 Medium sized ahi steaks, about 1 inch thick
• 1 ½ cups mixed greens (I used spinach and arugula)
• ¼ cup chopped, crispy bacon
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped green onion
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 2 Tablespoon smoke flavored olive oil (or just regular)
• 1 ½ cup orzo cooked in broth and lightly buttered
• Garlic salt
• Lemon pepper

How to Do it:

First cook the greens.  Add them and about ½ cup water to a skillet.  Bring the water to a boil, cover and cook until the greens are soft and tender.  There should be about ¾ to 1 cup left.

Pour off all the water and add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and the butter.  On medium heat, sauté the cooked greens for about 3 minutes.  Add the onions and the bacon and cook until the onions are slightly softened.

Remove from the pan and keep warm.

While the greens are cooking, sprinkle the last tablespoon of olive oil over the steaks on both sides.  Sprinkle some garlic salt and lemon pepper on each side.

In the same pan as you cooked the greens, turn the heat to high.  When the pan is hot, place the steaks in and sear about 2-3 minutes on each side.  You want it warm but still pink in the middle.

Serve the greens and ahi with the orzo.

Serves 2

It goes really good with a hearts of palm, avocado, kumquat and fennel salad! ^[4]

© Copyright 2017 The Lazy Gastronome

Those wonderful leafy greens, so full of vitamins, minerals and fiber – a health boon to our bodies!!  So what to do with them?  Here’s a few ideas to get you started!

Spinach –

Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas ^[8]

Spaghetti with Spinach, Chicken & Parmesan ^[9]

Or, how about an Asian treat?

Thai Pork Chops with Baby Bok Choy ^[10]

We like mixing them too – like mustard and collards.

BBQ Ribs and C ^[11]ollards

Greens, Beans & Ham Soup ^[12]

Or Kale with Chard –

Crockpot Beef Shanks & Leafy Greens Soup ^[13]

And speaking of Kale –

Tortellini Soup (with Sausage & Kale) ^[14]

Kale and Mushroom Omelet ^[15]

So there are a few ways to put those amazing vegetables into your meals – hope these inspire you to add them more to your diet!

© Copyright 2017 The Lazy Gastronome