This week at the farmers' market, I got lucky: I found two bags of greens left over from the previous week, labeled $1 each! One was pea shoots, and one was baby rainbow chard. I snagged 'em both and ran home to make something yummy.
I've never used pea shoots before; they're quite pretty. There are lots of small, round leaves, and little tendrils on the tip of each sprig. They also taste quite sweet, much like peas...
And rainbow chard, from what I can tell, is a prettier, more exciting version of baby spinach. The texture is similar, but the stems are colored red, orange and yellow.
I tossed a handful each of the two greens with other farmers' market finds: radishes, mushrooms, honeycrisp apples, and an extra-sharp cheddar. The honeycrisp apples are as their name suggests -- sweet-tart and extra crunchy. They go very well with sharp cheddar.
Since the cheddar was quite creamy, I wanted to keep the dressing light and tart. I settled on a dijon vinaigrette: equal parts lemon juice, dijon mustard, and blue agave syrup (can substitute brown sugar or other sweetener; see note below for details). I poured a stead stream of one part olive oil into the mix, stirring vigorously to emulsify, and poured the dressing over the salad.
Pea Shoots, baby rainbow chard, radishes, mushrooms, honeycrisp apples, sharp cheddar, dijon vinaigrette: how's that for a whimsical little salad?
