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Favorites from the box and summer salads, part 1

This week in the box we got more lettuce, but there were 2 treats I really enjoyed. 1, strawberries. It is truly amazing how different strawberries straight from the farm taste vs. the grocery store. They were really tart and melt in your mouth. Number 2, fresh dill. It was possibly the best dill I have ever had. The first thing I did with it was add it to the lettuce to make a salad. I blanched asparagus, cut those up and added chopped green onion. I made a quick lemon vinagrette with simply, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper, shallot chopped finely and olive oil. The second thing I did with the dill was roast small yukon gold potatoes with more dill, chopped shallot, olive oil, salt and pepper, and cayenne. Dill and potatoes make some magic connection, I couldn't stop eating them! (this goes back to my long enduring love of potatoes and the statement I have made "I have never met a potato I didn't like". )

I really do love salads in the summer. The abundance of fresh vegetables makes them easy and there isn't much that is more refreshing and cool to eat when the temps rise. I am sure many people have had the "Asian" salad that I put in quotes because it uses bag cole slaw and Ramen noodles. In addition to being a summer picninc standard in MN, it is actually really tasty. Last night I did my spin on this salad. I used a bag of broccoli slaw (if you haven't had it, delicious AND nutritious), shredded rotisserie chicken, green onion and a package of beef flavored ramen noodles. I took the ramen flavor packet and combined it with some sugar (probably a heaping tablespoon), soy sauce, sesame oil (just a little), rice wine vineagar, cayenne and olive oil. I whisked together like a vinagrette and tossed the slaw, green onions and chicken together. Then topped only what I was eating with the crunchy ramen noodles (don't add all of them to the dish otherwise they will get soggy). It was a perfect summer dinner salad. More salads to come!

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