Farmer's Market Salad with Sprouts

The weather in the Bay Area has been nothing short of incredible the past couple of days, so this morning instead of my leisurely 10 minute bus ride to the Alemany Farmer's Market, I decided to trek over Bernal Hill and back to get my produce goodies--TOTALLY WORTH IT (even if my legs are a little sore)!

My new favorite vendor is Sprout Lady. I don't know why no one until this point (me?) had thought to MIX varieties of sprouts to get distinct flavor profiles, but Sprout Lady does an amazing job.  My current favorites? The "Sprout Garden," containing fenugreek, dill, cress, red clover and arugula; and the "Ole!" blend with cumin, garlic, radish and red clover. 

And once I got home, sweaty but happy, I threw this salad together.  It's crunchy, clean, and really lets the flavor of the sprouts shine through (when's the last time you said that about sprouts?!? I seriously love these people). 

Crunchy Spring Sprout Salad

makes 1 main or 2 sides

Ingredients

• 1 cup sprouts
• 1 cup chopped spinach (trust, chopping the spinach helps all the ingredients distribute themselves more evenly
• 1/3 english cucumber, halved and sliced
• 1/3 crisp apple, cut into fourths, then sliced
• 1/2 avocado, chopped
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 TBS olive oil

Directions

1. Roughly chop spinach and place in medium mixing bowl
2. Do the same with the cucumber and apple, and add to bowl
3. Add the sprouts and stir to distribute evenly
4. Add lemon juice and olive oil, stirl to coat
5. Lastly, fold in the chopped avocado (try not to mash it up too much)
6. Mound onto two salad plates evenly, or gobble it up alone in front of the sink (totes okay either way!)

Cleansing Bok Choy Miso Soup

Cleansing Bok Choy Miso Soup

adapted from: An Edible Mosaic

makes 2 large or 4 small servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb (large bunch) bok choy, baby bok choi, or other dark leafy
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 TBS freshly chopped ginger
• Juice of one lemon
• 1/4 tsp dried tumeric
• 2-4 TBS miso paste, lighter-colored variety (to taste)
• Chopped cilantro (to garnish)
• Sea salt (to taste)

Directions

1. Rinse the bok choy well, pulling apart to remove all grit. 
2. Peel and thinly slice garlic.
3. Remove skin from ginger, and finely chop.
4. Add olive oil, ginger, garlic and salt to medium sized stock pot, and saute a few minutes over medium-high heat.
5. Meanwhile, slice the white parts of the bok choy into 1/4 inch strips and set aside. Do the same with the  green tops.
6. Once garlic and ginger has started to become a bit translucent, add whites of bok choy. Sprinkle on the  tumeric.
7. While this cooks, add 1-2 TBS miso paste to each serving bowl.  Spreading the miso around the bowl will  help it dissolve in the hot soup with few big clumps.
8. After the ingredients in the stock pot are cooked through to your liking, add the boy choy greens and stock  of your choice. Bring this just to a bowl, then turn off burner.
9. Add soup to bowls, swirling to dissolve miso.  
10. Squeeze in lemon, garnish, and enjoy!