Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette with Tatsoi

Sweet and tangy all in one!

Hey! I have fresh raspberries from my SLO Veg box. I also have some Mandarin oranges, and dried cranberries on the shelf and walnuts in the freezer. I can make this recipe I saw Trisha making this morning for a fresh and tangy salad. All I need is Feta cheese and some greens. Hmmm...maybe that Tatsoi spinach stuff would be good here. I don't know that I have enough for a big salad, but maybe combined with some field greens or Romaine lettuce? Yeah! Life is good!

As for the salad, I have Tatsoi, a mustard-spinach green, to try for the first time. I think it will be delicious with the Raspberry Vinaigrette. I will chop up some celery and green onions, add shredded carrots and some of the Bloom's Microgreens, and top it with walnuts and cranberries. If only I had some feta...

New this week in our SLO Veg delivery is Tatsoi, a mustard-spinach green from Pepper Creek Family Farms in Huasna Valley. I wanted to save them until I had time to consider how to prepare them, but I did try a bit of one leaf and it was crisp, with a deep green flavor. I am not sure how the mustard plays into it, but its good. The stalks seem to be a little less pithy than some spinach, but the bunches we got look very young, so maybe that is a factor. I checked out their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PepperCreekFamilyFarms, and was pleased to find a plethora of products, including living lettuces and basil which are grown hydroponically. I think I will have to take a trip to the Morro Bay farmer's market today and look these guys up! I want another type of lettuce, maybe romaine or curly lettuce, to mix these greens with for my salad tonight.

I haven't talked at all about the little sprouts we have been enjoying in our salads. They are from Bloom Microgreens and vary from sunflower sprouts, bean sprouts, pea shoots, radish shoots, and "oh shoot!", all kinds of greens! We have been getting little boxes of a variety of sprout/shoots each week for a while, and they add such a nice crunch and variation to our lunchbox salads. Lee really has fun showing off his lunches with his homemade dressings and all the fresh, earthy ingredients. Check them out at: http://bloommicrogreens.com/

 

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Here is the link to Trisha Yearwood's Food Network website:
 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/trisha-yearwood/tossed-salad-and-raspberry-vinaigrette-recipe/index.html

TOSSED GREEN SALAD WITH RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients
Salad:
1 pound mixed tatsoi and lettuce, romaine or curly leaf type
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup walnut pieces
2 fresh Mandarin oranges, peeled and sectioned
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup celery, sliced
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 1/2 cups crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup microgreens

Vinaigrette:
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup aged balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions
For the salad: Place the salad greens in a large bowl. Mix in the cranberries, walnuts, mandarin oranges, celery, green onion and feta cheese and microgreens.

For the vinaigrette: Combine the raspberries, vinegars, sugar and mustard in a blender until smooth. Slowly stream in the oil until combined.

Toss the salad with the vinaigrette before serving.

Notes
Cook Notes: Aged balsamic vinegar gives this vinaigrette a bold, rich flavor. Increase the sugar if your raspberries aren't sweet enough for your taste.

 

Ingredients are assembled: Apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, fresh raspberries, olive oil