I headed down to Gentile’s – my favorite Produce Market – after the gym, this morning. I’ve been remiss – I haven’t been down there in a while. I really need to get down there more regularly, now that the weather is (in theory) getting better. I came home with bags of produce and spent less than half of what I would have paid at any of the local stores around here – with a better selection. I think this will be my regular Monday morning for the foreseeable future.

I cleaned out the produce bins, lined them with towels, and got organized. The goal, of course, is to use everything, and I need to be able to see it and keep track.

I told Victor we were having salads for dinner and in seconds, he was making a salad dressing. All of our dressings are homemade. All of them. No strange science projects growing on the refrigerator door. We make enough for the meal.

He did a simple vinaigrette with:

• Olive Oil
• Homemade Mustard
• Honey
• Garlic
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt & Pepper

The salads were:

• mixed lettuces
• tomato
• mushrooms
• hard-cooked eggs
• radishes
• homemade bean salad
• homemade croutons
• grilled chicken marinated in olive oil, garlic, and Italian herbs

It all came together perfectly.

We’re planning our garden and will be expanding things a bit, this year. We still have a good six weeks before we can start planting, but we’ll be out there in a couple of weeks to start getting things ready.

In the meantime… we have a great produce market reasonably close.