Long Days, Local Food & Local Glows

by Kathy Humphrey

Recently, while on a family vacation at Whistler, I purchased a brand-spanking-new pair of tinted shades. When worn, these glasses make the world a warmer, tanner, happier place. I feel, at last, that spring has come. By the time June is here, the year has run half its course. The summer solstice is looming, and local produce is appearing in markets and in gardens all around. Strawberries gain little to nothing by being shipped for miles and over borders before finally ending up on our tables. When local strawberries are available, go big, and go often. Eat them for breakfast, blended in smoothies, mixed in salads and stirred into muffin mixes. Strawberries are ideal for freezer jam. The lack of cooking with this type of jam keeps their fabulous fresh flavour. Asparagus is also a June offering from our local gardeners, and is good to gorge on while it’s here. Grill it, bake it, steam it, eat it raw in salads, dip it in your soft-boiled eggs at breakfast. Spread soft cheese (chevre, or even cream cheese, thinly sliced) over a flatbread, arrange asparagus spears over top, scrape a bit of lemon zest over, dribble a titch of olive oil and a bare sprinkling of salt on top, and then grill until the cheese is melting into the bread and the asparagus is tender. The glow given to things by my new glasses doesn’t last, nor do the local strawberries and asparagus—the trick is to enjoy them while they’re around!

Great Green Salad
1 ripe avocado
2 cups peas (ideally, fresh from the garden, shelled and rinsed; also OK with frozen peas, cooked until just tender and then plunged into cold water and drained well)
1 cup fresh green beans, chopped into 1" pieces
1/2 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste
dash of hot sauce

Blanch green beans; cool. Slice avocado rind in half. Remove pit. With sharp knife, cut flesh into 1/2" cubes while still in rind. Using spoon, scoop into bowl. Add peas and cooled green beans. In separate small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and hot sauce. Sprinkle mint leaves over vegetables, then pour dressing over. Toss well to combine. Serve (on bed of mixed salad greens if desired).

Asparagus Flan
Quick Pastry
1/3 cup shortening/lard
1 Tbsp cold water
1 tsp vinegar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp sugar
pinch salt
1 cup flour

Melt shortening in double boiler. Remove from heat: let cool till opaque but still liquid. Combine egg yolk, water, vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir into shortening. Add flour all at once: using fork, mix with a few light strokes till flour is moistened. With fingertips, press dough on bottom and sides of 9" pie plate (the dough doesn’t have to be smooth). Prick all over with fork.
Filling
one bunch of asparagus, rinsed, topped, and lightly blanched
1/2 red pepper, sautéd (or 1/2 cup roasted red pepper)
1/4 cup Havarti cheese, grated
6 eggs
1/4 cup light cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp lemon zest
salt and pepper, to taste

Assembly: Preheat oven to 400˚F. Bake empty pie shell for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat eggs with cream until light and fluffy. Add salt and pepper; stir in lemon zest. Spread mustard lightly over bottom of pastry. Spread red pepper over mustard. Arrange asparagus spears over red pepper. Pour egg mixture into pan evenly; sprinkle with Havarti. Bake in 400˚F oven for 30-40 minutes, or until golden around edges and set in middle.

Asparagus and Strawberry Salad
one small clamshell container of mixed greens (or 1 head red or green leaf lettuce)
1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced
5 (or so) stalks asparagus, rinsed, with the hard end snapped off, cut into 2" pieces
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled (can substitute chevre, if desired)
1/4 cup raw pistachios
loose handful of basil leaves, torn
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper, to taste
Spread lettuce in large salad bowl. Strew with asparagus, strawberries, feta cheese and basil: scatter pistachios over top. Whisk together oil, vinegar, sugar, and seasonings: drizzle over salad, and toss. Serve.

Dessert for Two (increase as necessary)
strawberries (fresh, local, ripe, cleaned)
creme fraiche (or full-fat sour cream)
Muscavado sugar
mint leaves (optional)

If presenting these formally, then scoop small-ish portions of the creme fraiche into two separate dishes, and garnish with mint leaves. Spoon Muscavado sugar into saucer, and place strawberries into bowl. Dip strawberry in creme fraiche, swirl through the sugar, then eat.

Kathy Humphrey lives in Victoria with her husband and two children. She tries to see cooking for a family not as a chore but as a creative outlet.