I love summer!!  And I love Tuesdays during the summer!!  My favorite part about Tuesdays is the 12 South Farmers Market !! Every Tuesday from May until November, I mosey on over to Sevier Park around 3:30 with one of my friends and her daughter, and we shop the market for fresh finds.  I LOVE going over there – from flowers to spices to farm eggs – it’s all there.

When I really started attending the farmer’s market and using different and FRESH ingredients – I found that the difference between FRESH food and store bought is unreal.  It’s easy to say that, but until you taste a fresh egg and see that bright yellow yolk in comparison to a store bought egg…well, just go do that and get back t me.  :).

One thing that I challenge everyone to do is to go to your local farmer’s market and try to make a dish entirely or almost entirely from ingredients bought at the market.  It won’t disappoint!  You have to do very little to good food to make it taste great.

Here is a simple summer salad that I whipped up with almost every ingredient from the farmers market!! This is cranberry maple crusted chicken over fresh greens with a balsamic blueberry basil vinaigrette. (Say that 5 times really fast!) I topped it with avocado, roasted cashews, salt and pepper, and a little more basil!

For the chicken (from Triple L Ranch) I used the cranberry maple spice rub from Galena Garlic Company and baked at 350 for 30-40 min or until done. You can throw the cashews on another baking sheet and roast for 5 minutes or so and have them ready to garnish.  For the dressing – I used 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup of #galenagarlic balsamic vinegar, a handful of blueberries from Kelley’s Berry Farm, 1/8 cup of fresh basil from Delvin Farms and salt and pepper. Food process this until smooth. The lettuce is from Bountiful Blessings Farm and the beautiful flowers are from Local Blossoms!!

So there you have it, a simple summer lunch or dinner that will make you sit on the edge of your seat until the next Tuesday comes around and you can go back to the market!  I dare you to go to your local farmer’s market and make an entire meal from what you find.  Let me know how it turns out!