It’s that wonderful time of the year for putting together spring salads with enough variety to make a meal unto themselves! Gardens and farms are currently harvesting a cornucopia of lettuces, mixed salad greens and other salad vegetables.

I like to start my late spring salads with a leaf lettuce. I especially like a combination of red and green leaf lettuces because the colors are so beautiful. Next I add some kind of salad greens mix (mesclun, arugula, mizuna, and so on) or spicier flavored greens (spinach, young mustard greens, etc.). Then I add more texture with something like crisp cucumbers, bok choy, or crunchy radishes.

Finally, I top the salad with some protein–sliced hard-boiled eggs, diced or grated cheese, stir fried beef strips. Be creative with the options.

For this week’s locavore menu, I made:

Spring Salad
Yogurt Cucumber Dill Dressing
Hazelnut Shortbread with Raspberry Jam