Eat Clean. Eat Fresh. Eat Local.

To celebrate the month of August and the recent release of Reservations for Two, my publisher and I are spending the month celebrating local flavors.

How do you join in? Snap a picture of celebrating fresh, local food (could be a recipe or a particularly lovely radish…be creative!). Post your photo to social media using #mylocalflavor and #ReservationsForTwo and you’ll be entered to win a Kitchenaid Mixer as well as a shot at one of 5 kitchen gift baskets put together by me! The gift baskets will include my favorite kitchen items, one of my favorite cookbooks and a copy of the book Reservations for Two.



Need help getting started? Find a list of seasonal produce in your area here. And if you still need inspiration, our Pinterest board is here for you—day or night.

Here's what I made today - a simple kale, fresh cherry, pistachio, and feta salad.


What you need: 

6-8 leaves of kale, torn into 1-2 inch pieces off of the stem
2 oz feta, crumbled
6-8 fresh cherries, pitted and halved
2 oz pistachios, shelled and chopped (make sure they're unsalted



And for the dressing:

1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2-2 tablespoons oil (I prefer olive, avocado, or grapeseed)
1 1/2-2 tablespoons white vinegar, such as white wine vinegar or rice vinegar

How to mix it:

Whisk dressing ingredients together, or place in a small lidded container and shake well. Adjust sweetness or acidity to taste.

Toss all ingredients together, and enjoy! Happy eating!

**Update. So when I was posting earlier, it was a "get the blog live and jet out the door" kind of morning. So what I was going to say is that it was the Smitten Kitchen cookbook that got me hooked on kale salads. I know that kale is trendy. I also know that if you don't treat it right, kale tastes of sadness and self-loathing. But it doesn't have to! 

As Deb noted (in her very delicious kale salad with radishes, pecans, and dried cherries), if you pretend that kale is mesclun greens and add a honey mustard vinaigrette, cheese, fruit, and nuts, it's worth eating. 

The other thing I love about a kale salad is that it holds up. The leaves are so sturdy that you can make a large batch and keep it in the fridge for up to three days. I actually like a kale salad that's been in the fridge for at least 24 hours - the acidity of the vinegar breaks down the leaves a bit.

So I promise you - this goes on the list of "things to make because it's actually good, not just because it's good for you"!

Entries will be accepted through 11:59 PM on 8/31/2015. Winners will be announced via social media on 9/7/2015. Please allow 4-6 weeks for your prize to be delivered.