Peggy Lampman, September Farmer's Market Salad

This weather is not fooling me. Just because September is averaging warmer temperatures than this past June, I won’t be lulled back into tank tops and sandals. In fact, I'm wearing a jacket while everyone else is wearing sleeveless. I know what’s in store and I'm prepared.

Visits to the Farmers Market are taking on a sense of poignancy and urgency. I love a simple green salad with buttermilk dressing as much as the next guy. But today I’m inspired to greater heights. I will compose a salad, a Rhapsody in Food in D minor flat, with ingredients special to this September day in Ann Arbor. A salad, unique to the moment, that will be impossible to re-create in a few short weeks.

I purchased pea shoots from Garden Works, Lavender Goat Cheese Medallions from Boulevard Cheese and heirloom tomatoes from Frog Holler Produce at the Farmers Market. The definition of the word heirloom to describe tomatoes is highly debated. Some say the seeds must be over 100 years old, others 50 years, and others pick 1945 which marks the end of World War II.

Marcella (left), keeper of heirloom tomato seeds

In its truest sense, an heirloom tomato grows from seeds that have been nurtured, selected, and handed down from one family member to another for many generations. In Ann Arbor, Marcella, Master Gardener at Project Grow, is one of the keepers of our prized heirloom varietals. To learn more about Marcella, visit my August 20th Salad Bowl dinnerFeed. Regardless of a person's specific interpretation, no genetically modified tomatoes can be considered heirloom.

Truthfully, I've made similar salads to this in the dead of winter. I just omit the tomato and substitute mesclun (baby greens) for the pea shoots. Local goat cheese for the medallions may be procured year round from Boulevard Cheese and Zingerman's, and goat cheese logs may be purchased from every cheese case in town. When I make the salad in a February blizzard, I will remember how much better it tastes in September.

Yield: 4 composed salads Cost: apx. $16 (including parking) Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 Boulevard Cheese Goat Cheese disks (12-14 ounces), room temperature 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 large egg, beaten 1/2 cup panko, Japanese bread crumbs 1/3 cup orange muscat vinegar champagne vinegar* 2 teaspoons honey 1/3 cup walnut oil 1/2 cup olive oil, divided 2 teaspoons minced chives + 1 tablespoon chives snipped into 1/2-inch pieces 8 cups Garden Works Fresh Pea Shoots, washed 2 German Striped Frog Holler Heirloom Tomatoes, washed and sliced

*Available at Trader Joe's. Red wine vinegar may be substituted.

Directions

1. Shape the goat cheese into 4, 2 1/2-inch medallions. 2. Put the flour, egg and panko into 3 separate shallow bowls. Dredge the goat cheese medallions in the flour, then dip in the egg, then coat with the panko, lightly pressing crumbs into the cheese to adhere. Transfer the medallions onto a platter lined with wax paper and refrigerate until chilled. 3.In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar with the honey until dissolved. Whisk in the walnut oil, 1/4 cup olive oil and minced chives and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. 4.In a large nonstick skillet, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil until shimmering. Add the goat-cheese medallions and cook over medium high heat until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes per side. 5. Set 1 goat-cheese medallion in the center of 4 large salad plates. Sprinkle goat cheese medallions with snipped chives. Arrange tomato slices around medallions. Lightly season tomato with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. 6. In a medium sized bowl, toss the pea shoots with the walnut vinaigrette. Divide and surround medallions with pea shoots and serve.