What a super opening day we had on June 15! The weather was perfect, the produce was bountiful, and I got to cook with a professional chef. New Wakefield resident Katie Franzetti, who has offered to volunteer her talents to the WFM Cooking Demos and Farm/Food Eduction program, is a Certified Health Supportive Chef from The Natural Gourmet Institute in New York. We are excited to have her on board!

This week, we took advantage of the abundance of spinach from Farmer Dave’s, cucumber and basil from Kelly’s Farm, and strawberries from Fay Mountain Farm and made a simple yet lovely salad dressed with a light olive oil and rice vinegar dressing with a touch of lemon and honey that just radiated SUMMER!

Here is the recipe. Apologies in advance: the sampling was over and done with before we had a chance to take and picture of the finished product.

Spinach, Strawberry, and Cucumber Salad

Salad
¼ lb (or so) fresh spinach
1 pint strawberries
1 medium cucumber
Leaves from 3-4 stems of basil, to taste

Dressing
4 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar*
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ½ tsp honey
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse all the produce and pat dry. Remove any woody stems from the spinach and chop and/or tear the leaves to preferred size. Slice strawberries and cucumbers into thin slices and/or chunks. Tear or slice basil leaves very thin. Then gently toss it all together.

Whisk the dressing ingredients, adjust seasoning to taste, add to salad starting with half of it, gently toss, and add more as desired.

Serve as is, add some feta, nuts, seeds, or whatever strikes your fancy. Or put on each plate as a colorful bed for a serving of sautéed shrimp or other entrée.

• Why rice vinegar? We like it because it is a bit less acidic than most other types, giving the signature tang but not overpowering other flavors. You can use your choice, but might need to adjust the other flavors.