Blackberry Harvest

Our blackberry harvest is in full swing now.  We’ve had some very hot days and when that happens, the blackberries ripen very quickly.  There are still a lot of red ones, but I’m picking a basket of ripe ones every other day.  

We can’t eat them fast enough because we’re also picking raspberries and strawberries, so I freeze them.  I think about the black smoothies, blackberry crisps, and other treats we’ll be able to eat in December when fresh, local, organic berries are not available. 

Buckwheat Noodle Salad with Orange Peanut Dressing

The inspiration for this salad was a recipe in the Fields of Greens cookbook by Annie Somerville.  She’s the executive chef at Greens, a celebrated vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco.  While their noodle salad has been a favorite on their menu since the late seventies, I felt it needed updating.  I didn’t want to blanch the vegetables..I didn’t see the point.  Carrots and peas are wonderful when they’re raw and crunchy.  I also changed the dressing by balancing the flavors more to my taste.  The result was wonderful.  One of our new favorite dinner salads.  This recipe makes four decent sized servings but Mr. RK and I ate the whole thing.  We had to have seconds, it’s that good.