Spring Mix: Today's Grab-Bag Salad Impresses

Due to a spontaneous trip to Washington D.C. on Sunday (to see the always-excellent Hold Steady), I didn't have a lot of time to follow through on my more ambitious plans for my farmer's market haul. Fortunately, this resulted in a full fridge of ingredients to play with when I had a hankering for a light lunch today.

I tossed that amazing arugula with some pea shoots, threw in some toasted pine nuts and some leftover peas (blanched and then tossed with lemon, mint and olive oil last night) and topped the whole thing with local feta and some cubes of grilled pumpkin seed-sourdough bread from Le Bus. A homemade lemon-dijon vinagrette brought this beautifully verdant collage together in harmony.

A lunch like that really makes you feel like you've done something good for yourself (except for when that pea shoot went up my nose)—it was the culinary antithesis to the two hours I spent watching The Bachelorette last night.

Fitler Square Farmer's Market: Today's Haul

I just got back from the Saturday morning market at Fitler Square (23rd & Pine). It's a small collection of stalls, but the produce is local and beautiful. Today I grabbed some strawberries, some arugula that smells like pure, peppery heaven, some fresh peas and a small stash of pea shoots (ironically, the peas and shoots came from separate stalls). With those last two gems I plan on finally trying out a Jamie Oliver recipe I have been lusting after in Jamie at Home—"smashed peas" with mint on toast. Sounds like summer on a stick (well, on a slice of garlic-rubbed grilled bread).