Lucky for me, I live just a few minutes away from Westchester Greenhouse, a small farm holdout in the middle of a Cheeveresque suburb (Cheever, in fact, lived nearby in Ossining) just north of New York City.
Except for a winter nap from January to March, Westchester Greenhouse stays open all year round. But unlike supermarkets, the Greenhouse doesn’t purvey all produce all the time.
Fruits and vegetables begin to trickle in in early spring. With every trip to the farm after that, you feel a tingly sense of anticipation: You know each week the shelves will groan with more new and delicious local produce. Will it be tiny champagne grapes to mix into scones and salads? Huge bunches of herbs for pesto? Or fingerling tubers for salt potatoes?
Right now Westchester Greenhouse stalls are filled with bushels of New York State yellow peaches, walnut-sized perfumed plums and pints of rosy, perfectly imperfect apricots…
Or white peaches…
I plan our dinner menus around the farm’s seasonal bounty. Summer Fruit and Spinach Salad with Maple-Glazed Pecans is a great way to make the most of summer’s luscious, full-flavored fruits.
Based on a Christie’s Corner recipe, Summer Fruit and Spinach Salad with Maple-Glazed Pecans mixes fresh spinach and your favorite fruit with a maple, lemon and mustard vinaigrette. But the killer add-in is the Maple-Glazed Pecans.
After coating pecans with a mix of 100% maple syrup, Demerara sugar and a dash of cayenne pepper, you toast them lightly in the oven. The pecans combined rich, crunchy nuttiness and salty sweetness is divinely addictive. Maple-Glazed Pecans also make a terrific cocktail hour nibble and, packed in attractive jars, a great holiday gift.
Try tossing the spinach, pecans and vinaigrette with:
- Yellow or white peaches
- Nectarines
- Plums
- Apricots
- Grapes
- Apples—okay we’re veering into fall, but this salad is heaven with local apples. Or pears.
Summer Fruit and Spinach Salad with Maple-Glazed Pecans Recipe
1 bunch of fresh spinach
2-3 pieces of summer fruit—I used white peaches, peeled and sliced
Lemony Maple Vinaigrette—see recipe below
Maple-Glazed Pecans—see recipe below
- Wash spinach thoroughly to remove all sand. Tear into bite-sized pieces and spin in a salad spinner.
- If the fruit has a thick or fuzzy skin, peel it. Thinly slice the fruit.
- In a large bowl, toss spinach, fruit and enough Lemony Maple Vinaigrette, see recipe below, to coat the salad.
- Add a handful of Maple-Glazed Pecans chopped or broken into smaller pieces. Toss salad to incorporate nuts and serve immediately.
Serves 6-8.
Lemony Maple Vinaigrette Recipe
Lemony Maple Vinaigrette Recipe
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon finely grated onion and onion juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon grainy mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Using the finest grade on your grater, grate a peeled onion. Collect 1 teaspoon of onion pulp and juice and put it in a small bowl.
- Add remaining ingredients and whisk to blend. Store covered in refrigerator.
Makes ½ cup.
Maple-Glazed Pecans Recipe
Maple-Glazed Pecans Recipe
2 cups pecan halves
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 heaping tablespoon Demerara or raw crystallized brown sugar
A big dash of cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients.
- Scoop pecans onto parchment paper and spread into one thin layer. Maker sure the pecans are arranged closely together in the center of the pan—stragglers will burn. Using a rubber spatula, scrape side of bowl and drizzle remaining syrup mixture over nuts.
- Bake pecans for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and, using a metal spatula, turn over nuts so they toast evenly.
- Return pecans to oven for another 5-7 minutes, checking frequently to make sure they don’t over-brown.
- Remove pecans from oven and cool completely before storing in tightly closed jars.
Makes 2 cups.
