Strawberries are Here!!!! A Salad and a Drink!

Hi Everyone,

I realize this is my third salad post in a row and will likely give it a break after this, but it seems that the January gardens conspire to make us atone for the sins of the holidays. The produce is irresistable for salad.

There was a time when I shunned the idea of fruit in my salad. Nothing about it seemed right to me. Fortunately, with age has come flexibility and a willingness to experiment on the fruit in savory salad front. A memorable dessert bridged this gap: a strawberry sorbet with black peppercorns and balsalmic reduction years ago at Uchi, to be specific. The flavors are burned in my mind. This is my far-more-traditional take on those flavors.

To prove that I am not all salads and butterflies, though, I will leave you with a drink that is absolute perfection for 5PM on the dot. Before the sun goes all the way down, this helps the worries of work and the day receed a little more quickly.

All of the produce came from Boggy Creek this morning. Meet me there next Wednesday at 9!

Strawberry and Feta Salad with Orange Soaked Fennel over Mixed Lettuce

(serves 6)

2 heads, butter type lettuce

1 cup strawberries, sliced

1/2 cup goat feta (I used Wateroak)

1 small head fennel, thinly sliced

juice from 1 orange

1 bunch radishes, sliced

balsalmic vinegar

good olive oil

fresh black pepper, be generous here

flakey sea salt

Thinly slice the fennel and pour the orange juice over it. Let sit while you assemble the rest. Wash the lettuce and make sure it is nice and dry. Tear it up into bite sized pieces. Toss in a bowl.  Top the lettuce with fennel and a little extra orange juice. Add strawberries, feta and radishes. Sprinkle with a generous amount of fresh black pepper and sea salt. To make dressing, use 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. For this amount 1/4 c vinegar and 3/4 olive oil will be just more than you need, so you can put the dressing aside for another salad. Whisk together oil and vinegar, pour over salad and toss gently. Serve and enjoy!

 

Now for the fun part. 5PM!

Strawberry and Rosemary Vodka Soda

3 T Dripping Springs or other good vodka

1 sprig rosemary

3 strawberries, sliced

Topo Chico or other soda water

Place strawberries in the bottom of a glass, top with ice, pour in vodka, top off with Topo Chico, then stir. Garnish with rosemary and drink it down.

Thanks for reading!

Not That Martha