First Salad: arugula, cherries, goat cheese

The lettuces are out of control, this head was six inches above all the others, so a fresh summer salad was in order. As with everything you grow I highly advise soaking your lettuce in a large, deep basin to rid it of dirt, bugs and slugs. It’s not surprising you find a little fauna in your flora, it is the outdoors after all but its not something you want to sink your teeth into.

Rocket greens (arugula) with cherries, fresh goat cheese, crushed croutons and a honey grain mustard vinaigrette. I always remembered cherries being in season deep into summer, like with peaches, available in July and August. But alas this is California and they’re beautifully ripe and are in plentiful supply right now. I paired these sweet & tart cherries with a creamy fresh goat cheese then tossed it with a quick vinaigrette of honey, grain mustard, white balsamic and Spanish olive oil. I’m a huge fan of opposing texture in my salads, I like adding nuts or crunchy fruit, but in this case good ol’ croutons were crushed and thrown in. I would think toasted hazelnuts and a shaved parm with a lemony vinaigrette would be perfect too, I guess have an idea for tomorrows lunch menu.