Farm to Work Treats: Spring Parsley Salad

I have been in the fresh produce heaven for the past two days!  I have not been this adventurous with fresh produce for a very long time.  Moving from Davis, CA to Houston, TX, my biggest complaint used to be that I cannot find flavorful fresh produce in the supermarket that easily.  However, that is no longer true thanks to the Farm to Work program our school began to pilot this past Thursday.  Check out the wonderful fresh produce!

In my opinion, this type of program is much easier to participate in than the traditional Co-Op.  Unlike the Co-Op plans, you are not required to purchase a box of fresh produce every week.  You can decide to order or not based on the content.  The following is one of the many recipes I will be sharing within the next few weeks.  These were all inspired by the various produce we received in our box of goodies.

First up, we have a parsley dish.  I have never thought of using parsley as the main salad ingredient, but we got so much parsley and I don't want to waste it.  Boy, after tasting this salad, I have to say that I was wrong about not using parsley as the main green vegetable in a salad.  I now have a brand new appreciation for parsley.  Give it a try and let us know your thoughts.  

Spring Parsley Salad 

(Inspired by Alton Brown)

Prep time:  15 minutes

Serves:  approximately 8 people at 1 cup each

Calories:  To Be Determined

Ingredients:

2 bunches Fresh Parsley

1-1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1-1/2 tsp Sesame Oil

1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder (optional)

1/4 tsp Agave

8 oz Mandarin Oranges (Packed in its own juice)

16 oz Low sodium Cannellini Beans (AKA white kidney beans)
2 Tbspo Almonds, sliced

Directions:  

1. Wash the parsleys well.

2. Cut most of the stems off until you reach the leafy part.

3. Roughly chopped up the remaining parsley into small pieces.

4. Whisk the olive oil, sesame oil, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and agave together in a measuring cup/bowl.

5. Drain the can of cannellini beans

6. Place the parsley, mandarin oranges, and cannellini beans in a salad bowl

7. Lastly add the whisked content and toss the salad

8. Add the sliced almonds on top of the tossed salad

9. Voila, now you get to enjoy a big plate of bright and refreshing salad.