It is that time of year when the farmers’ markets come alive! Check out one haul from the East Bay in the SF Bay Area in California!

Here are a few things I made, which will be included in our new recipe photo stock library.

The first item is beet salad made with roasted beets, braised beet greens, feta cheese, and extra virgin olive oil. There is also a dash of balsamic vinegar glaze to enhance the beet color and sweetness.

Roasted Beet Salad

Ingredients

• 3 beets with greens

• 1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin

• 1 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar glaze

Instructions

• Rinse the beets and greens, removing the dirt from the beets with a vegetable scrubbing brush. Cut the greens and stems from the beets, and keep them refrigerated.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the beets on a sheet pan with paper or in a casserole dish. Bake until they are tender, 50-60 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Pop them or peel them out of their skins and dice them.

• Cut the stems into small pieces and cut the leaves into large diced pieces. Saute the stems and leaves in a little olive until they turn bright green, about 5 minutes.

• Place the greens on a plate. Top with diced beets and crumbled feta cheese. Sprinkle with olive oil and vinegar and gently turn the plate to swirl olive oil, vinegar, and beet juices. Serve warm.

• Serves 1-2

Notes

It is a nice touch to add a few fresh greens like arugula or baby lettuce.

PDF Recipe Download

A garden salad was made easy by making a week’s worth of meal prep with all the veggies. Not only did I have salad but I now have a “war chest” in the refrigerator ready for snacks, tacos, fajitas, and stir fry dishes.

Next, I made some air-fried veggies with a garlic mustard aioli. The air frying makes the veggies so crunchy with a slight char flavor, similar to a grill but with more crunch. The crunchy texture melds so well with the rich aioli that was made from scratch in a blender using a few of my favorite EVOO or extra virgin olive oils. The olive oil-drenched French baguette sliced were baked crisp in my convection oven.

Look at this healthy spring feast using fresh asparagus and blue baby broccoli! And stay tuned for the new licensing gallery for my best recipes and images. It is perfect for people in a hurry who just want one image now.

Here are a few spring flowers from the market.