shabou: Farm to Table Spring 2013

My family has a house in upstate NY. About 3 years ago my friend Lisa and I, who are both into cooking, decided it would be fun to go up there, spend the day at a local farm and then cook a Farm to Table dinner with the items we purchased that day. We found a wonderful farm in Warwick, NY called Pennings Farm. They have an orchard to go picking, a farmer's market, a garden center, a barnyard area where the kids can feed the animals as well as a harvest grill and brewery to sit and enjoy lunch and a beer. I highly recommend checking out Pennings for a day trip! It's about an hour and a half from NYC.

LIsa and I started this tradition in the Winter of 2010 and are now on our 5th Seasonal Farm to Table Dinner. What started as the four of us, me and my husband and Lisa and her husband, has now turned into 6, as we have both had babies along the way. (Plus our 2 dogs, Parker and Elvis).

Our husbands like to make fun of us, as we tend to go a little overboard and cook for a party of 24, not 4, so our motto has become "more is more" (as you can see at the bottom of our menu).

For our Spring 2013 Farm to Table Dinner we decided to go with a Mediterranean Theme:

Chopped Greek Salad

Lamb 3 Ways; chops, kabobs and sausage

Warm Lemon & Shallot Potato Salad

Spring Orzo Salad

and a dessert purchased at the local farm, which was a rhubarb pie

Menu designed by Lisa, who is owner of Larkspur Studios

We started the meal with a strawberry and mint prosecco cocktail

Spring Orzo Salad

What you'll need

1 bunch asparagus, diced

15-ounce can artichoke hearts

1 1/2 cups sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

12 ounce box of orzo

1 lemon, zested & juiced

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Turn off the heat and add in asparagus for 2-3 minutes. While the asparagus are in the water, heat one tablespoon olive oil in a saute pan. Add in shallots and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Drain asparagus and rinse with cold water.

In a large bowl add the cooked orzo, asparagus and sauteed shallots and garlic. Quarter the artichokes and add them to the bowl. Add in sun-dried tomatoes with oil and lemon zest. Mix.

In another bowl whisk together the lemon juice, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. While whisking, slowly pour olive oil into the vinegar. Once emulsified, stir the dressing into the salad. Let sit and marinate for about 5 hours and serve at room temp.