Cara Cara Orange Salad with Honey-Lime Vinaigrette
This crisp, citrus-kissed salad is both bold in flavor and beautiful in presentation.
Ingredients:
½ pound arugula greens, or other favorite spring green mix
1 cup microgreens
2 Cara Cara oranges
1 avocado, pitted and thinly sliced
½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds
Vinaigrette:
¼ cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup grapeseed or canola oil (or other preferred mild tasting oil)
Method:
1. Spread the greens out on a large, round serving platter to make a bed.
2. Using a sharp paring knife, cut the tops and bottoms off the orange. Stand oranges up and slice to remove the peel and membrane. Then, slice oranges crosswise into thin wheels.
3. Arrange the orange on top of the arugula, overlapping the slices slightly. Then layer on the avocado slices.
4. To prepare the dressing, whisk together all the ingredients except the two oils. Continue whisking while adding the oils in a thin stream. Keep whisking until well combined. Drizzle vinaigrette over the salad and then season with ground pepper if desired. Garnish with the toasted pumpkin seeds.
Spring Risotto Night Recipes
Rich with comforting flavors, yet bright with spring ingredients, this week’s risotto-themed box is equally fit for a grand feast, or an intimate meal for two. Have fun experimenting in the kitchen with all the provisions for a lovely risotto crafted with our signature chicken stock and topped with imported Parmesan Reggiano and gorgeous vegetables like first-of-the-season asparagus, baby leeks, and carrots. Inside you’ll also find: Gruyère cheese bread, Sauk Farm’s apple cider, locally-crafted pickles, farm-fresh eggs, and beautiful spring greens like Bibb lettuces, arugula and a fresh salad mix. Enjoy!
Here are a few recipe ideas for the week:
Spring Risotto
This bright risotto showcases beautiful spring vegetables and hearty Arborio rice—just remember to keep stirring!
Sautéed Spring Vegetables
Lightly sautéed in butter and kissed with lemon juice, these crisp spring vegetables are wonderful served atop this week’s risotto.
Farro, Arugula & Apple Salad
Bright with radishes, apple and asparagus, this salad is a real stunner.
Herb-Shallot Dressing
This flavor-packed vinaigrette is fantastic with both grains and greens.
Garlic Confit
This mellow confit makes an amazing topping for pizza, pasta and crostini; or try a little dollop atop your risotto!
Farro, Arugula & Apple Salad
Bright with radishes, apple and asparagus, this salad is a real stunner.
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked farro
1 cup sugar snap peas
4 asparagus spears
1 apple, cored and sliced into matchsticks
1 cup packed arugula, microgreens or other summer green of your choice
1 cup thinly sliced radicchio
1 cup thinly sliced radishes
Fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Edible flowers, for garnish
Herb-Shallot Dressing (see recipe)
Method:
1. Preferably while still warm, transfer the farro to a large bowl and toss with ¾ cup of the Herb-Shallot dressing.
2. Bring a small saucepan of salted water to a boil, and fill a medium bowl with ice water. Trim the sugar snap peas and blanch them in the boiling water for 30 seconds, drain, and then immediately plunge them into the ice bath.
3. Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus spears. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the asparagus into long ribbons or, alternatively, cut the spears into smaller pieces on the diagonal. Set aside.
4. Add salad greens and radicchio to the farro in the bowl and toss. Taste for salt and pepper and add more if needed. Transfer the farro mixture to a serving platter or bowl. Top with the snap peas, asparagus, radishes, and apples. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the top of the salad and add more salt and pepper, if desired.
The Italian Spring Recipes
This week’s lineup combines a bevy of fresh spring produce—from verdant greens to vibrant red radishes—with the soulful flavors of Italy, also including smoky, nitrate-free bacon, fresh bucatini pasta, and silky duck eggs that are all begging to star in pasta carbonara for supper (see the enclosed recipe suggestions for that one!). Also including fun Italian-style pantry provisions such as pillowy focaccia bread, farmstead Caciotta cheese and soft amaretti cookies with chocolate, as well as spring daffodils, this box will transport you abroad, all without leaving your very own kitchen. Mangia!
Here are a few recipe ideas for the week:
Duck Egg Carbonara Pasta with Bacon
Creamy and indulgent, simple and satisfying, this classic-style carbonara dish gets an added boost from this week’s silky duck eggs.
Roasted Radishes with Brown Butter & Lemon
The sweet, nutty brown butter here lends a beautiful finishing touch.
Italian Parsley-Caper Vinaigrette
This adaptation of the pungent vinaigrette from Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables is magical drizzled over roasted vegetables or spring greens!
Sweet Onion Confit
This buttery-sweet topping is wonderful in sandwiches or even atop crackers.
Arugula Pesto
Stash this bright, zippy pesto in your freezer to add to the likes of pastas, soups or even roasted vegetables.
