More and more people are realizing the benefits of eating local, in season and fresh. Where better to buy locally grown, fresh ingredients in season than your nearby farmers market?
Eating local, like buying local for retail products and services, keeps more money in your community. The price paid circulates among your neighbors through wages paid and inputs purchased to grow or create the locally produced items. An added benefit is that local food eaten in season is fresher and retains more nutritional value than food shipped hundreds, even thousands, of miles before ending up on your table. Do strawberries in January really taste that good? Surely not like the ones available in Georgia between March and June (depending on the region)!
You can get your local produce and farm food fix at Norcross Community Market’s pre-season Mini Farmers Market hosted in conjunction with Norcross Garden Club’s Annual Plant Sale April 17 and 18 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shop for a taste of Spring—you may even be able to find the right fresh ingredients to make this lovely and delicious salad! (Bonus points if you take home plants to grow your own—no worries if you’re a newbie, Gwinnett Master Gardeners will be on hand to help answer any questions.)
P.S. Save the date for the upcoming fifth season of Norcross Community Market—kick off is Saturday, June 6!
SPINACH & ROMAINE SALAD WITH STRAWBERRIES & POPPYSEED DRESSING:
Ingredients
The Dressing:
1/4 c. light mayonnaise
1/4 plain nonfat yogurt
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. nonfat milk
2 Tbsp. poppyseeds
2 Tbsp. honey
The Salad:
5-6 oz. baby spinach
1 large or 2 small heads Romaine lettuce, chopped
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
1/3 small sweet onion, sliced thin
Directions
1. In a jar with tight lid, combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, balsamic vinegar, milk, poppyseeds and honey. Shake well to combine.
2. In a large salad bowl, combine spinach, romaine, strawberries and onion.
3. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat evenly. *The crispy leaves that fall off during tossing are the best part!
Serves 6. Recipe sourced for the SNAP program by Ines Beltran, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent of the UGA Gwinnett Extension.