I will admit that there are weeks where I am crazy busy. I wish that I was like some of my friends that have menus totally planned out for months ongoing. I’m not. My menus are made up of meals that can be quickly put together and adaptable to my schedule. I work in the world of adoption and babies being born do not set their birthday around my meal planning. Whether I run out of time to cook the meal I wanted to or need to scramble to come up with a salad, side or main dish – my garden is so valuable to me. Having the ability to take things from the Farm to Table is something that makes my life easier.
I am also a creative cook as I am able to put foods and ingredients together into an edible and hopefully tasty meal – without a recipe. Having a vegetable garden handy has so many benefits. Health wise, we grow our vegetables and fruits organically. I feel so much better being able to grab what I want from our garden, wash, prepare and place it on the table. Our kids are actually more excited to eat what we have raised, as well.
Salads are an easy Farm to Table go to for our family. With a variety of vegetable to choose from every season, I simply add seeds, nuts and proteins that suit our tastebuds. We experiment with different homemade dressings.
Easy Farm to Table Salad
2 Cups of Tomatoes (this was a variety of tomatoes that we had grown)
1 Red Bell Pepper (chopped 0r sliced)
1 Green Bell Pepper (chopped or sliced)
1/4 Cup Green Onion (chopped)
1 Cucumber (chopped)
2 Heads of Romaine Lettuce (cut or torn into bite size pieces)
1/2 Cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds
3/4 Cup of Raw Walnuts
I tossed together this farm to table salad with a delicious balsamic vinegar, olive oil and dijon mustard dressing. All the veggies came from our garden. So, so good! I love all of the colors of this salad. If you are feeling wild, go ahead and add some crumbled blue cheese or feta!
We have only had our little farm going on a year now, and I know that gardening is not for everyone. But, if you live in suburbia with just a bit of room and you have a desire to raise your own veggies – it can be done! I did it! I just utilized planters and half barrels. The vegetables and fruits being raised in pots looks so pretty and will change your life for the better.
I have been going back to basics one baby step at a time. One of the most important things form me is choosing meals that are simple and fresh. You don’t have to have a farm to go from Farm to Table… you can go from backyard in raised beds or potted plants to table or even farmers market to table, too. The important thing is to have as many fresh things on your table as possible. If you can buy things organically, even better!