Recipe: Kale Market Salad with Scallion Dressing

What better way to enjoy these last few weeks of summer than with this fresh Market Salad?

Kale Market Salad with Scallion Dressing

Serves 4-6

Dressing

1/3 C Scallions, chopped

3 Tbs. Fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1 Tbs. Honey

5 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

¼ Avocado

Pinch Sea Salt

To Taste Fresh ground black pepper

Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.  Season with fresh ground black pepper.

Salad

1 C Kale, de-stemmed and chopped

1 1/3 C Farro, cooked

2 Medium carrots, thinly sliced

1 Fennel bulb, thinly sliced

2 Avocados, pitted and cubed

1/3 C Almonds, toasted and chopped

Mix kale with half of the dressing in a medium bowl.  Work dressing into kale to soften.  Add farro, carrots and fennel to kale and mix with remaining dressing to combine.  Add avocados and almonds to salad and gently toss. Serve.

Trend: Eating Seasonally

Eating seasonally is a great way to save money, eat healthy and benefit your local farmers.  We hear more and more about eating foods that are in season as people try to become more aware of where their food is coming from, but the movement is more than a trend.

First of all, eating seasonally can save you and your family a lot of money.  If you buy foods that are in season, you are buying them at their greatest production level. The overhead costs for farmers and distributers are less, meaning the prices in your grocery store will be less.

Buying seasonally also means that you are eating food at its peak.  Taste, nutrition and availability are all in their prime when food is in season.  When foods are grown and harvested out of season, you have to wait for them to be shipped from around the world, often meaning that produce has been harvested too soon in order to make the trip without spoiling.  This leads to a sacrifice in taste and cost.

By eating seasonally, you also expose your palate to a broader variety of produce.  When shopping only for what is seasonally available, you may find that there are many fruits and vegetables that are new to you.

An easy way to spot seasonal foods in your grocery store is looking at price trends.  If berries are particularly expensive, or if an abundance of potatoes are on sale, that is an indicator of being in-season.  You can also check out this excellent guide from The Cleveland Clinic or this interactive peak-season map from Epicurious to help you eat fresh.

Ohio seasonal foods for the month of July

Black-eyed peas

Blueberries

Corn

Cucumbers

Eggplant

Nectarines

Okra

Peaches

Raspberries

Tomatoes