salad

Today I finished up the last of the blueberries I dried last summer. Suffice it to say, I will definitely be drying more next summer. They take quite a bit of time in the dehydrator but are completely worth it. I still have several bags of frozen blueberries in the berry freezer and while we are enjoying them immensely, I wish I had dried a few more. Next time. The dried pears are also good, but not nearly as versatile.

My favorite way to eat the dried blueberries has been in salads, particularly the ones I have been making since the bitter spring greens have started in my CSA basket over the last month or so. Today I had dried blueberries, tangelos and pink lady apples in a salad with walnuts, carrots, scallions (the first of the season!) and our first radishes from the farmers market. All of this was chopped and tossed with fresh baby greens, also from the farmers market. I like salt, balsamic vinegar and olive oil on my salad. It took me a while to get used to this simple dressing, but now I love it.

I love this time of year for so many reasons, not the least of which being that I can finally stop buying the California baby greens every week for the guinea pigs. I eat mainly local, seasonal vegetables from my year round CSA, which I love and am happy and grateful to be able to do. The guinea pigs, however, really love their morning greens and unfortunately, there are a few months in Oregon when there are no local greens to be found. Even the Romaine lettuces go away. While the greens and lettuces haven't returned yet to our grocery store, they can be found in abundance at the farmers market. This last week, the pigs have been enjoying their new local fare, but request that I hold the spinach and bok choi, please. They prefer dandelions. I don't blame them. I must say, I was excited to see if I had found someone who would finally eat the spring bok choi that starts showing up this time of year. Of course, I prefer kale.