This Week at the Farmer's Market- Napa Cabbage Ramen Noddle Salad

Saturday is my day to go to the farmer's market. I love our market; it is a mixture of plants, meats, veggies, fruits and prepared foods. Today Katie and I shared a shaved ice with fresh crushed strawberries and a bratwurst. Both were amazing. I brought lamb so we will be having lamb steaks for Sunday night's dinner. (Yum!) I also had to have the Napa cabbage. Katie's favorite salad is a Ramen noodle salad made from Napa cabbage. Finally I couldn't pass up the farm fresh eggs. I can't wait to have eggs Benedict tomorrow morning.

Even though our yard is in danger of being overrun by vegetable and fruit plants, I did buy more plants. I have always wanted to grow cucumbers but I have never had the room. So the solution seems to be a bush cucumber. I found them at the market and I purchased four dwarf bush cucumber plants. I don't have room for the sprawling cucumbers but certainly the dwarf bush cucumbers will work. I guess we will find out.

The garden is way ahead of schedule. The picture of the purple flower (above) is a Japanese eggplant. I planted five eggplants. I think I am going to be drowning in eggplants this year so if you have any great recipes for eggplant please let me know. Next to the eggplant is a picture of cherry tomatoes and below is a picture of Roma tomatoes. They hopefully will produce lots of tasty tomatoes. This week I provided them with organic fertilizer stakes so they will be "fed" all summer. Next to the Roma tomatoes is a picture of peas and peppers. The peas haven't flowered yet but the peppers have already flowered and are growing peppers. The peppers below are hot peppers and at the very bottom of this post are bell peppers.

We even have grapes growing. This year we have so many grapes, the squirrels and birds may actually leave some for us. Also the beans are flowering. We have two kinds of beans this year. My favorite of all of the plants is the corn (pictured at the very bottom). I looks like grass but (hopefully) will soon be as tall as Katie.

The only items we used from our garden for dinner was the herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme, and chives) for the rub for the porchetta style pork. Saturday night in addition to the Napa cabbage salad (recipe below) we had porchetta style pork roast. It roasts at 300 F/149 C for hours so it is juicy and pull apart tender. (Below is a picture of the pork-- it was absolutely incredible).

Katie's Favorite Ramen Noodle Salad

• 1 Head of Napa Cabbage
• 1 Bunch green onions
• 3 Tbsp Butter
• One 3 oz (85 g) Package of Ramen Noodles
• 1/4 Cup (36 g) of Toasted Sesame Seeds
• 1/4 Cup (60 ml) of Rice Wine Vinegar
• 3/4 Cup (180 ml) of Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 Cup (113 g) of Granulated Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

Finely shred the Napa cabbage and finely chop the green onions and put in a large salad bowl.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the crushed Ramen noodles and sesame seeds and sauté until toasted. Put in a small bowl and allow to cool.

To make the dressing:

In a small saucepan, heat vinegar, oil, sugar, and soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, let boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from heat and let cool.

When ready to serve combine all of the ingredients.