Spring Menu: Happy Valley Locavore Picnic

Meggin Eastman is an avid home cook who shares her seasonal recipes on her blog, Happy Valley Locavore. We asked her to develop a menu for our June Local Hero Challenge, and she sent along a collection of tasty make-ahead recipes that would be perfect for a picnic. Thanks for sharing, Meggin!

Asparagus and white bean salad: Quickly blanched asparagus and white beans complement each other in texture and flavor.

Or, if it’s getting too late in the asparagus season,

Sesame mustard slaw, with some tender spring cabbage. The recipe has lots of ideas for alternate vegetables, if you don’t have any cabbage, too. That’s the secret to eating locally — flexibility! This is a very flexible recipe.

Strawberry and goat cheese salad. A delightfully sweet and savory combination. Use flavorful greens – arugula is good, or a salad mix that includes things like mustard greens and sorrel along with the lettuce. Find local strawberries here, and local goat cheese here.

Parsley mint pesto with garlic scapes, served over pasta at room temperature. Early summer brings lots of flavorful herbs that make intensely flavored variations on the traditional basil pesto. This also freezes well for spicing up your winter meals.

Add some fresh bread made from local wheat from one of our great local bakeries and a few local cheeses to go with it. For dessert, fresh strawberries, unadorned.