berrylicious spinach and goat cheese salad

Well, garden growth is still headed in the right direction! We are just finishing up on the raspberry harvest, an eggplant has made an appearance, I underestimated the potential of my tomatoes (mere cages cannot hold these beasts. shout out to happy cat organics! his plants are looking great in my garden) and I was just munching on sweet peas from the vine.

This recipe will be a punch of super foods (SF) and is a creation of my mother's (special event caterer at the Lewes Hospital). She said this salad was a success and she hopes you enjoy it too. It also offers an opportunity to buy local, organic and seasonal foods.

Huge score for me, I picked up freshly picked blueberries from a neighbor who puts out a few pints of whatever is growing in the garden that week. The raspberries that compose the dressing are from Dan's bushes and the thyme from my garden.

The down and dirty on this salad begins with an organic spinach base that provides you a daily allowance of this SF. Spinach is loaded with anti-oxidants and mineral rich. Blended in is a mix of local blueberries and a from scratch raspberry dressing with a hind of shallot (yes, you guessed it... the crazy cousin to garlic and a SF) and thyme . Topped with walnuts (yes, it's getting redundant ... another SF loaded with omega 3-fatty acid and more) and thyme and lime zest goat cheese. BTW, the berries help satisfy that sweet tooth craving!

raspberry vinaigrette

• 10 oz / 1 pint / 2 cups raspberries
• 1 T shallots, finely diced
• 1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 c white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp stone ground mustard
• 2 T maple syrup
• 1 T lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 2 tsp thyme or tarragon

food process the raspberries. you can leave it seeded or remove the seeds by pressing it through a strainer. when you have the raspberry pureed whisk in the remaining ingredients. mom suggests you gently mix the blueberries and raspberry dressing to macerate overnight in the fridge. don't second guess mom.

salad

• 5 cups (16oz box) organic spinach, unless you are growing some
• 5 cups blueberries, fresh (use 4 cups in dressing)
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 small log (5-6oz) of goat cheese
• zest of one lime
• 6-8 sprigs of fresh thyme or tarragon, chopped (mirror the herb used in the dressing)

toss the spinach, 1 cup berries, shallot and carrots. mix the zest, herb and 2 T of walnuts (finely chop those) and roll the goat cheese to coat in the herb mixture. slice the goat cheese into discs. top the salad with the blueberry and raspberry dressing, walnuts and then the goat cheese. This might be best presented on individual plates.