Grilled Spring Onion Salad

It is an exciting time on the farm thanks to warmer soil temperatures! Many of our early crops, like spring onions, are finally getting big enough to harvest.

This week my dad, Lana and I have been brainstorming the menu for our Wine in the Vineyard classes on June 11^th and 12^th. We were discussing past recipes including one of my favorites, Grilled Spring Onion Salad. My dad is always skeptical of salads pairing with wines because vinegar based-dressings often overpower the wine.  This salad uses fresh lemon juice and therefore pairs brilliantly with a dry white wine like Sauvignon Blanc.

Since we were able to pick our first spring onions this week and I had this recipe on my mind, Chris and I made it last night. Chris grilled the onions and I prepared the other ingredients. For those of you unfamiliar with spring onions, they are smaller than the typical onions you see in the store. They are mild-flavored and fleshy making them an ideal candidate for the grill. Luckily we had company over last night because sharing this salad always generates compliments for its plate presentation and flavor!

 I hope you will try some Eckert’s Spring Onions this spring! Eat well, Angie

Grilled Spring Onion Salad

4 Tbs. olive oil, divided

8-12 Eckert’s spring onions, cut in half through the bulb, greens trimmed to about 4”

½ tsp Kosher or sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

2 Tbs. whole grain mustard

1 1/2 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp. chopped flat leaf parsley

1 Tbs. chives, divided

12-16 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 hard cooked eggs, sliced

Rub onion bulbs with 1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Grill bulbs on medium heat until well-marked while turning occasionally, about 6 minutes. Allow onions to cool.

In a small jar or bowl, whisk together, mustard, remaining oil, parsley and ½ of the chives.

Arrange onions between 4 plates. Arrange tomatoes, egg and remaining chives on the plates and drizzle with dressing. 

Aunt Helen’s Strawberry Salad

The days of May seem to trot along at a hectic pace filled with a plethora of end-of-school year activities and celebrations. Can you relate? My husband and I both have May birthdays, our anniversary and Mother’s Day tucked in there to celebrate! Of course I find this all fun but it does seem to cut into my time in the kitchen.

 Last week I needed a quick, seasonal salad for several weekend get-togethers with friends and family so I opted for Aunt Helen’s Strawberry Salad for several occasions.  Now it may seem like cheating to use bottled salad dressing, but I declare it officially isn’t if you are having a busy week! And if you want to be a little sneaky about it, you could pour the dressing into a Ball jar and act like you made it from scratch. I promise I won’t tell a soul!

The dressing in this salad, Aunt Helen’s Sweet Vinaigrette, has a balance of sweet and tangy flavors that compliments ripe strawberries. I most often make this salad with feta cheese but it is also tasty with Swiss or Provel. I like it best topped with sliced almonds but walnuts are also delicious.

While this salad is named in honor of Aunt Helen, my husband’s great aunt, the recipe is not actually hers. We named  it after her so we could remember  her spunky personality and celebrate that she lived to be 105 years old! Aunt Helen’s Salad can be found on our restaurant menu and the dressing is for sale in our Country Store in Belleville.

I look forward to making this many more times this strawberry season and I hope you will give it a try when you find yourself craving a delightful salad amidst a busy week.

Eat well this spring, Angie

Aunt Helen’s Strawberry Salad

5-6 cups mixed salad greens

½ cup shredded Swiss cheese or Feta cheese crumbles

1/3 cup English walnuts or slivered almonds

Aunt Helen’s Sweet Vinaigrette drizzled to taste

We are so excited to announce that we now have Homegrown Strawberries available for purchase in our Country Store in Belleville and even more excited to tell you that Pick-Your-Own Strawberries will open this Saturday, May 17th at 9am at our Belleville Farm. As always, please check our harvest hotline for the most up-to-date picking information.

Chicken Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette

This week's temperatures have me craving basil like crazy- is anyone else with me? My basil plants are happily enjoying the warm, dry days from their playful patio pots. Since it is early in the growing season, I don’t have quite enough leaf production to make pesto from scratch which lead me to a recipe short cut. I used Cucino Vina's Pesto in a jar or as I call it "presto pesto" to satisfy my basil craving!

The pesto vinaigrette only calls for a tablespoon of pesto yet it adds an unbelievable amount of flavor to the salad. I have included the recipe for homemade pesto in hopes of inspiring you to plant lots of basil this spring. By the way, now is the perfect time to plant basil and we have sweet, cinnamon and thai basil plants available in our greenhouse in Belleville.

Give this refreshing and flavorsome salad a try if you want to get an early glimpse of summer flavor!

Eat Well, Angie

Pesto vinaigrette

¼ cup white wine vinegar

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tbs. pesto (see recipe on p. 26)

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. whole-grain Dijon mustard

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. ground black pepper

Chicken Salad

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 cup cored and chopped tomato

½ cup chopped black olives

½ cup chopped artichoke hearts

¼ cup toasted walnuts

4 slices Eckert's Hummingbird bread or 4 lettuce leaves

To prepare pesto vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, pesto, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper. Cover and chill.

To prepare salad: In a medium bowl, combine chicken, tomato, olives, artichokes and walnuts. Add the Pesto Vinaigrette, tossing gently to coat. Serve immediately open face on bread or on top of a lettuce leaf. Makes 4 servings.

Basic Basil Pesto

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

1 peeled clove garlic

¼ cup toasted pine nuts or walnuts

3 cups packed, fresh basil leaves

⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil, divided

 ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

On a cutting board, sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt over garlic and roughly chop. Using the flat side of a knife, crush garlic mixture into a thick paste. Add paste to a food processor with nuts, basil and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Pulse until ingredients are finely chopped. With machine running, add remaining olive oil in a slow steady stream. Add Parmesan and pulse to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Makes about 1 cup.

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Oven-Baked White Asparagus

We are very excited to announce the beginning of homegrown white asparagus season! Eckert’s is proud to now have fresh-cut, white asparagus for sale in our Country Store in Belleville. White asparagus is different from its green counterpart because it grows underground in mounds of soil. The deprivation of sunlight (and therefore chlorophyll) results in white stalks instead of green. The flavor of white asparagus is bit more bitter than green and that is why I love to serve with fresh slices of lemon to counter-balance the natural flavor.

Take a look at our grower, Don Ross, who farms white asparagus just a stones-throw from one of our peach farms, on his harvesting machine. He drives over the rows of asparagus and cuts tips under the earth. I encourage you to give this unique vegetable a try. The flavor is uniquely delicious and the growing story is a long-standing German tradition! It doesn’t get much more local than this….

 

1 lb. white asparagus spears, ends trimmed and peeled
2 Tbs. butter
Salt &  Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash asparagus and place spears on a large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil; dot with butter. Bring edges of foil together to form a pouch, seal tightly and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until asparagus is “crisp-tender.” Carefully open foil to allow steam to escape. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Thank you Show-Me St. Louis and camera-coach Jim Viehman for a fun afternoon in Eckert’s Cooking Classroom! It was my pleasure to prepare two recipes for Show Me which will air on Friday, April 18^th.  A big thank you to Eckert’s culinary stage crew, Lana Shepek and our Dietetic Intern, Rachel,  from Southeast Missouri State for helping me set up my culinary “stage” for the filming.

In celebration of homegrown asparagus season which is just around the corner, I made Oven-Roasted Asparagus Bundles with lemon, butter and herbs. This recipe is fun way to experiment with a variety of fresh herbs. I tucked a different herb sprig into each asparagus pouch before baking. The fun part of this recipe is comparing and contrasting the ways different herbs contribute to the baked asparagus.

Have some flavorful fun at a dinner party by serving each bundle separately so that your guests can vote on their favorite flavor combination. For those of you cooking for Easter gatherings, here is a make ahead tip. Simply prepare your pouches a day or two in advance and pop them in the oven a few minutes before your meal.

Eat well this Spring! Angie

P.S. I will share the second Show-Me St. Louis recipe next week :) Stay tuned!!

Oven-Roasted Asparagus Bundles (in parchment)

42 stalks of asparagus
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
6 slices lemon
3 Tbs unsalted butter, divided
Kosher salt
6 herb springs (thyme, chives or parsley) optional
6 pieces of Parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Trim ends of asparagus. Divide stalks into 6 groups of 7 among the pieces of parchment paper. Place 1 lemon slice and 1 smashed garlic clove on top of each asparagus grouping. Top each grouping with herb sprig , ½ tablespoon butter and salt. Fold paper over the asparagus and seal to close. Fold down ends of paper and tuck under. Bake bundles 12-15 minutes; allow bundles to rest a few minutes before serving.

Eckert's Sweet Party Meatballs

My favorite part about Super Bowl is the ….. FOOD! Are you with me on that? I can’t tell you who is playing but I can tell you what I will be serving. Speaking of that, I have been looking for a good meatball appetizer recipe for Super Bowl Sunday for several weeks. I was intrigued by the many recipes for cocktail meatballs calling for grape jelly but I wanted to put an Eckert’s spin on it. I experimented last night with a few sauces until I arrived at this sweet and savory combination.

The meatballs themselves were moist and very flavorful. They would be great on pasta with tomato sauce or as an appetizer straight from the oven. The combination of Eckert’s Peach Grilling Sauce and Eckert’s Peach Preserves provides a sweet medium to keep the meatballs moist throughout a party.  I will be making them again this Sunday and I hope you will too.

This is our last week for our ground beef special in our Belleville Country Store. When you buy 1 lb you get 1 lb free. Perfect timing don’t you think?

Eat well this Super Bowl, Angie

Eckert's Sweet Party Meatballs

1 lb ground beef
1 Eckert's applewurst sausage link (a link of bratwurst can be substituted)
1/4 dried plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely minced onions
1/8 salt
5oz Eckert's Peach Grilling Sauce (your favorite BBQ sauce can be substituted)
1 cup (8oz) Eckert's Peach Preserves

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl gently mix ground beef, applewurst, bread crumbs, onions and salt until combined. Form mixture into round balls about 1 1/4" in diameter. Place meatballs on a baking sheet and place in oven for 12-15 minutes or until the internal temperature is at least 150 degrees. Pour grilling sauce and preserves in slow cooker. Transfer meatballs to slow cooker and gently toss to cover with sauce. Cover slow cooker and place on high for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours. Makes about 30 meatballs.