Farm Share to Table

Having the farm share is definitely making my cooking more creative and making me try recipes and ingredients that I normally wouldn't. Its also helping to grow my cookbook collection-I keep finding cookbooks with recipes for the "new" vegetables I've now got in my fridge. I find it a welcome challenge to take the freshest, seasonal ingredients and then assemble a menu from there. I know this is nothing new and is standard in many other parts of the world, but traditionally in the States, we pick out a menu and then head down to the market to get whatever we like-regardless of where it was shipped from or whether its in season or not. That's certainly changing and I think we're better for it. I'm definitely enjoying these vegetables and assembling menus completely from the farm share/farmers' market, with a few pantry staples.

Last night for dinner, we started with a salad of red leaf lettuce, fresh raspberries, slivered almonds and a balsamic vinaigrette with herbes de Provence. The entree was orzo with roasted squash. Yes, I know I've been rocking orzo salad quite a bit this month but it makes many simple and delicious summer dishes. Plus, if by any chance there are leftovers, it makes a great lunch. I roasted two types of yellow squash-the eightball (self explanatory) and one that looked like a starfish (the name escapes me)-along with some Walla Wallas, olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper. To my standard lemon vinaigrette, I added some mint and a dash of cumin . Dessert was a blueberry-raspberry fool. I mashed about half of the berries and whipped some cream with sugar and vanilla. I then combined half of the whipped cream and the mashed berries and layered the mixture, berries and cream in a nice glass and it was chilled by the time we were finishing our orzo salad.

Orzo Salad with Roasted Yellow Squash and Lemon-Mint Vinaigrette
Serves 2-3 as an entree

5 oz. orzo
2 small yellow summer squash, chopped medium
1/2 small Walla Walla onion, chopped small
5 tablespoons olive oil, separated
1 teaspoon cumin, separated
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons freshly chopped mint
2 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper
Grated Grana Trentino parmesan, for serving

Cook orzo in boiling salted water, for 8-10 minutes or until al dente
On a half sheet, toss squash, onions, 1 T olive oil, 3/4 t cumin, with salt and pepper
Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes
In a small measuring cup, combine lemon juice, lemon zest, 4 T olive oil, garlic, mint, 1/4 t cumin, salt and pepper
Drain orzo and place in medium bowl
Add roast squash and vinaigrette
Toss to combine
Cool to room temperature
Add goat cheese and check for seasonings
Serve with parmesan