Walnut, Chevre and Strawberry Salad

All I want to eat is my new favorite salad.

It's a mix of Marin Roots Farm lettuces. Yesterday it was little gems and a variety with red lace edges. And I bought a head of a kind I swear is from a Beatrice Potter story book.

I add other greens I'm inspired to bring home too - wild arugula, mustard, pea shoots. I haven't tasted greens as good since the first time I tasted mesclun mix on an organic farm in Sebastopol. Fire rockets went off in my mouth and everything I thought I knew about the world in that moment disappeared.

This is lettuce I'm talking about. It's not supposed to be that good.

But back to making the salad. I toast a small pan of Jackie's walnuts thinking about the people who stole her orchard of irrigation pipes in the night. And then I burn the damn walnuts, curse and stomp and eat them anyway.

Slicing up organic strawberries from Swanton Berry Farm in Santa Cruz I top the lettuce in an oversized bowl.

Next is a third of a round of the Andante chevre crumbled over the berries. And gladly stuck to my fingers.

Adding the hot walnuts on top of the cheese is the best part. They make a noise you can hear even if you aren't quiet.

I've quit using bottled dressing and instead use Bariani's olive oil and sea salt. It's straightforward good. There's no question that a bite of strawberry, tastes like strawberry. The salt like salt, the lettuce like a pretty day.

Licking my fingers between each bite, I eat slowly, without a fork, tasting all the combinations of berry, cheese and oil, lettuce, salt and walnut.

Not wanting any of it to end.

4 comments:

Green Bean said...

mmmm. Who knew a salad could be so good and, yet, having eated many from my local farmers' market, I believe you. Sounds wonderful.

Emily said...

yum. This reminds me of when Belen's mom came to visit (from Spain) and she made this AMAZING salad...it was lettuce, tomatoes, olive oil, and salt. I don't know why it was so good...maybe it was because we ate it with her homemade (with saffron from Spain) paella. Wow. When is Abuela coming back...my mouth is watering.

Kale for Sale said...

green bean - Sometimes food is good though because everything else is good too. I made the salad again tonight after being at work all day and it wasn't as good as the one we ate in the garden on Sunday.

emily - We should just go to Spain. The salad must have been wonderful because that was a long time ago that Belen's Mom was here.

Anonymous said...

that sounds so delicious! chevre is my favorite cheese and to combine that with strawberries...yum.