A Journey in Vegetables.

I have to admit that seeing spring vegetables in the markets and local farm stands gets me all giddy. Spring and early summer are definitely my favorite times to cook. I mean just look at this array from our local farm, Sweetwater . . . hard not to be inspired.

I love it that this farm is 4 blocks from our house, yes we are so very fortunate to live in Northern California. This salad more evolved than was planned, a method that usually results in my favorite kitchen creations.

We had a few friends coming over for dinner and I wasn't really sure what I was going to make with these vegetables. I thought roasting them sounded good. So I drizzled them with a bit of olive oil and put them in the oven. When they were done,  I pulled them out, and then, as happens a lot around our house, the kids wanted something, and then something else, which resulted in the baking sheet sitting on the the stove for a while. They cooled to room temperature and I tasted them, they were a mix of crispy, tender, sweet deliciousness. Which, by the way, if you have never had roasted radishes you have been missing out. The roasting mellows their bitterness and leaves this interesting spicy-sweet flavor.

True confession time, when I was a kid my family nicknamed me "bunny" since I was always eating rabbit food.  Fortunately, my love of vegetables has endured, while the nickname has not! So, when our friend said of this dish ... "That's not a salad. That is a journey in vegetables!" I took it as a huge compliment. To dress the salad I made a roasted green garlic vinaigrette with Chardonnay Wine Vinegar from one of my favorite suppliers--Sonoma Harvest. For the recipe, head on over to Sonoma Harvest and check it out.