Farmer's Market Fresh Salad

For years, I've complained about how I don't live in a place with a big, awesome outdoor market. Today, I discovered the Minneapolis Farmer's Market on Lyndale Avenue North. They have SO much stuff there: dozens of vegetable and flower stands; vendors of organic meat, cheese and eggs; State Fair style stands selling snacks; and also clothing and craft stalls. There were even some street performers playing music (though none were very good). I guess I'll shut my mouth about Minneapolis' lack of a big, awesome outdoor market, because this is it.

So I kicked off my farmer's market shopping season there today. Though I didn't leave with bags and bags of produce, I did indulge in some $13 morel mushrooms. I know, I know $13 for about 8 mushrooms is a little crazy, but these are so good and so hard to find. The only other time I've eaten them was as a child when my parents found them in our yard. So if I do this once a year, and I make good use of them, it's totally worth it.

I sauteed a couple of these mushrooms and put them on my salad today. Also on that salad, some Chinese onions from the farmer's market. These looked a little different from regular spring onions, but tasted similar and may actually be the same thing. I am not sure. Whatever, they were only like $2.

The only other things I bought today were garlic chives and and some honey from Ames Farm . Stay tuned to see what I do with these.

Lunchbox #2: Cauliflower Tart with salad

Not wanting to post a recipe copied directly from a the smitten kitchen's latest post, I thought I'd share this cauliflower tarte in lunchbox form.

The smitten kitchen recipe sounds and tastes wonderful, but I was truly inspired to make it because I had a huge head of cauliflower sitting around in my fridge. Store-bought pie crust worked well for me, and I don't even know what mascaropone cheese is. So I used ricotta. Ricotta and Parmesan.

This tart was the first time I caramelized onions. I should really make it a habit....

Lunchbox #1: Potato Salad Salad

After getting happy hour sushi for the second time in less than a week, I had no reason to cook a big meal tonight. However, I still had to think about lunch for Monday at work. I suppose it would have been easy enough to go out to eat tomorrow, but the closest places to my work are Chipotle (too intense) and Panera (too gross and expensive).

So I threw together a healthy potato salad and paired it with spinach and a small green pepper (pepperoncini). That's why its Potato Salad Salad. For the potato part, I basically just boiled about ten small red potatoes for ten minutes. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter and add that to the cut up, boiled potatoes. There were also sandwich sized packets of mayo and mustard in my fridge, so I threw them in. A cup of plain non-fat yogurt completed the sauce. Sliced scallions give it a nice zing, while 10 chopped olives and some parsley make it taste homey and familiar. Of course, I added one diced green chili as well.

I'll be having this for lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday too...

Curried Beet Salad for One

This flavorful salad was light, and went well with toast and hummus. Many of the recipes I've added to my blog so far have clearly been enough for more than one person, but this easy salad is the perfect healthy meal for one.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups baby arugula
1 large beet, cut into small chunks
1 small cucumber
1/4 red onion, chopped
2 green chilies, chopped
5-6 curry leaves - available at you're local Indian grocer
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 hard boiled egg

Saute the onion in the olive oil for about a minute. Add the green chilies and curry leaves and saute for another minute. Add the beet. Cover. Stir ocassionally until beets are no longer crunchy.

Arrange the arugula on a place. Cut the egg in half and remove the yolk if you wish. Slice each half into this pieces. Place the egg on the arugula without separating. Place slices of cucumber wherever you like. Do the same with the beets. Dress the salad with oil from cooked beets and lemon juice.