the farmers market

The Baby Bird and I took a little trip down to our local farmers market this morning.  It's something I try to do every Saturday we are in town.  We scored some great beets:

And here is the main reason I wanted to go this morning:

Are they not the most gorgeous eggs you have ever seen?  They were a splurge, but if you have ever had fresh, free range eggs, you know they are worth EVERY penny.  There is absolutely no comparison to the thin shelled, cheapies at the grocery.

If you've never been to your local Farmer's Market, I really encourage you to go.  You may spend a little more, or you may spend a little less, but there's nothing like fresh, locally grown produce at the peak of its season!  I love supporting the local farmers as well.  They are very appreciative of the business, and are usually happy to share recipes and gardening tips.

And here is a recipe to use all the yummy produce you'll buy.  I made it the other night after finding it on the Pioneer Woman blog.  It was SOOOO good!  Seriously.  It made a vat too, which was good, because between the three of us, we ate an absolute ton.  It's my new favorite salad.

Don't be intimidated by the long list of ingredients.  The beauty of this salad is that you can sub out veggies and use just what you have, or add some other stuff that sounds good.  Read the recipe and then I'll tell you what I used:

Asian Noodle Salad

salad ingredients:

1 package linguini noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled

1/2 head sliced napa cabbage (or more)

1/2 head sliced purple cabbage (or more)

several good handfuls baby spinach

1 whole red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 whole yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 whole orange pepper, thinly sliced

1 bag bean sprouts (also called mung bean sprouts)

chopped cilantro to taste

3 whole scallions, sliced

3 whole cucumbers peeled and sliced

1 can (10 oz) whole cashews

for the dressing:

1 whole lime, juiced

 8 Tbs. olive oil

8 Tbs. soy sauce

2 Tbs. (up to 3 Tbs.) sesame oil

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 Tbs. minced fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 or 2 jalapenos, chopped

chopped cilantro

Mix salad ingredients together in a LARGE bowl.  Whisk dressing ingredients together and pour over salad.  Mix with tongs or hands and serve.

I served this with grilled chicken briefly marinated in 1 Tbs. soy sauce, 1 Tbs. brown sugar, 1 Tbs. sesame oil and a little kosher salt.

Yummy.

For the salad, I left out the napa cabbage and the cashews.  For sure use the purple cabbage though, it is so pretty!  Carrots and zuchinni would be great things to add.  The sesame oil, cilantro and ginger really make the flavor, so don't try to sub those out.

Have a great weekend!!!