Wow! Fresh, Home-Grown Produce Makes A Big Difference!

I have to ask myself how old the asparagus is that I buy from my local market.  Last night we finally had the asparagus that I brought home from our farm on Thursday and it was fresh, crisp, and loaded with flavor.  It was 3 days old and was perfect.  I usually use asparagus I buy from the market within 2 days of bringing it home and it is often a little mushy at the top and has lost some of its "crisp" when I snap the ends off.  Not to mention a subtle, yet undefinable odor that can be a little off-putting.  The red leaf lettuce was just as fresh as the asparagus, and red leaf lettuce is one that tends to get mushy rather quickly - or so I thought.  The strawberries were a little worse for the wear, but I had been warned that, due to all the rain we had earlier this season, they were never exactly "up to par".   They tasted fine, but were a bit small and I had to throw a couple of them out.

I used all the ingredients above to make a delightful dinner of Asparagus Pasta (the recipe is a family favorite and can be found in the March 23, 2011 post entitled "A Nice Way to Usher in Spring"), and a salad with lettuce, strawberries, and red onion.  I crumbled some soft goat cheese on top and made a dressing in the blender with 4 strawberries, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, some fresh mint, a half teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of honey, 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, and 2 tablespoons olive oil.  See below:

I realize that I really need to hit the Farmer's Market to supplement what we get from our Farm each week.  There is nothing like freshly picked produce!   It makes eating a predominantly meat-free diet much, much easier. 

I hope you have all had a nice weekend.  We actually went to a Wine Festival yesterday.   Virginia has some excellent wines.  We bought an outstanding Merlot (I tend to prefer reds), but tasted some excellent Viogners, Cabernet Francs, Pinot Noirs, and some hard-to-pass-up dessert wines, too.  The last table we went to had the most unusual wines, including a pear one that was hard to pass up and a jalapeno one that was so hot that my mouth burned for about half an hour after tasting it.  The world of wines is not what it used to be and I love it!   I have to admit that I do enjoy my occasional glass of wine and got a lot of nice ideas today.  Some of the more unusual ones would pair well with fresh-from-the-farm produce and a nice warm baguette.  Yum...

Well, until next time, happy and healthy eating to you all!