Not Your Mother's Tuna Salad

I've been telling people how much I a. dislike cold salads with mayo and b. I don't really like tuna that much but c. I really like this salad.  It came as a result of necessity--isn't that how the best things come about?--when it was nearly 90 degrees and John wanted a cold salad to with the sausage from Saylor's and Company we were grilling. It was too late to start a potato salad, so I looked in the fridge. And then I saw the radish dip from Salvaterra's Gardens. And then I thought, couldn't we use this in a tuna salad, instead of mayo?

And I did. I tried a small sample first, of elbow macs and some good quality tuna packed in olive oil, and it was good. Bright with the herbs parsley and dill and with chopped radish and green onion, this dip just screams spring. Chill it in the fridge for a couple of hours and then zest a lemon on top, and toss to combine. My friend Lenora says it begs to be eaten with smoked salmon. Oh wait. Maybe this should be used in a salmon salad. Oh, this is getting interesting......

I'm fairly certain that this one is going to be in the cookbook. But now I'm wondering if it's worth exploring with good canned salmon. What do you think?

Sour Cherry Love

Who's looking for some cherry love? This is a good contender, I think, for the cookbook. It's adapted from Bon Appetit but it seems like this recipe has gotten a lot of play around the Internets, with quite a few adaptations.

Here's a quick tease. Slices are available for consumption and enjoyment. If you are in the Easton area, please text me. I'll be happy to distribute some tonight, in my kitchen!

First Round of Testing: Asparagus, Rhubarb and Strawberries

Today is the Strawberry Festival at the Easton Farmers' Market, and it was abuzz with strawberry lemonade, strawberry baklava, strawberry-chicken-goat cheese sandwiches and, of course, strawberry shortcake.

The inaugural batch of recipes is ready for testing, and they are as follows:

• Rhubarb Soda, courtesy of Apple Ridge Farm, which I've adapted.
• Spanish Grilled Asparagus, which comes from cookbook author, market enthusiast and Lehigh Valley resident Dave Joachim
• Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie with a spelt-enhanced crust (from Cranberry Creek Farm's spelt flour), which I've adapted from a couple of places (Michael Ruhlman's Twenty and Smitten Kitchen for crust and filling, respectively)
• Mushroom-Asparagus Pasta, which is an original creation and involves mushrooms from Primordia Mushroom, a vendor at the Easton Farmers' Market 

If any of these sound appealing, please let me know and I would be happy to send you the recipes for testing along with a feedback form to keep things organized. You can choose one, some or all of them; it's up to you. I would like to get them tested this week; ideally, by next weekend June 9-10. I've already got a few more waiting in the wings to go. Hooray!

Here's some food for thought, in the meantime. It's the strawberry-rhubarb pie, made with half spelt flour, half AP flour.