Ah, pink & green, every Prepsters stock wardrobe must, especially in Spring.  While my days of popped Izod collars and matching Tretorn-stripe tennis shoes are long gone, I can still show my love the for Pink & Green – locavore style.

Three days in a row of 50-degree temps, not to mention lots of fresh Spring vegetables at the farmer’s market this Saturday, inspired a crunchy, fresh and altogether delightful pink & green salad.  The pink:  crisp & crunchy radishes, spicy new shallots and homemade and home-foraged wild raspberry vinegar.  The green: tender baby spinach, scallions, fresh flat-leaft parsley and a spritz of lime juice. The accessories: a simple vinaigrette and a shaving of aged local goat’s milk cheese.  The verdict: fashionably delicious!

————————————————————–

Preppy Spring Salad

INGREDIENTS

• 2 oz (about 2 cups packed) tender, young spinach leaves, washed and spun dry, tough stems removed
• 3 medium (3 oz) radishes, scrubbed, trimmed, halved and sliced to 1/8-inch
• 1 large scallion, sliced
• 2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• shaved aged goat cheese, for garnish

Dressing

• 1 tbsp minced shallot
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 3 tbsp vinegar (I used wild raspberry vinegar, but wine vinegar would be fine)
• 3 – 6 tbsp good quality olive oil

METHODS

1. In a large bowl, combine spinach, scallion, radish and parsley.
2. In a small bowl, combine shallot, garlic, salt and pepper, lime juice and vinegar.  Drizzle olive oil in, whisking as you go; taste frequently and keep adding olive oil until you reach the desired taste & texture (I used 3 tbsp olive oil, but my vinegar was fairly sweet).
3. Toss salad with vinaigrette, adding about 1 tbsp at at time (I had a few tablespoons leftover). Plate and top with shaved goat cheese. Serve.

Serves 3 to 4.

OPTIONS

1. This would also be nice with some fresh goat cheese, and herbed or peppered chevre, or some toasted hazlenuts or walnuts.

STORE

Best eaten fresh.  Store any leftover vinaigrette in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

SEASON

Spring!

LOCAL RESOURCES

• Spinach, radish, scallion, parsley, shallot, garlic: Madura Farms, Goshen, NY
• Goat cheese: Keiffer, Krugerrand Farms, LLC, Richfield Springs, NY
• Wild raspberry vinegar: homemade from foraged Pound Ridge, NY raspberries & white wine vinegar
• Olive oil: Kalamata extra-virgin, Greece
• Salt, pepper, lime: away