graduation party and napa cabbage slaw

This past weekend we celebrated the graduation of our youngest daughter from High School.

It is a very weird feeling to have both children done with school and moving on to the adult world. So that has nothing to do with food or the party.

Since we had tons and tons of fresh local veggies, that was the theme. I also had tons of local berries. The strawberries just finishing, the red raspberries going crazy in our yard and the blue berries starting a bit early. Desert was simple; ice cream, berries and browies (whipped cream of course).

It was too hot to grill, so I did some chicken the night before, along with some egg plant, yellow squash (from the local farm) and red peppers. The theme was "make your own wrap or salad".

I put out assorted cheeses, turkey, ham,grilled chicken, smoked salmon and a variety or spreads. Hummus, flavored mayonaise and mustard. My brother brought an olive spread to die for (I have begged for the recipe - it contains figs).

I made a few salads as well. Broccoli salad (recipe in earlier blog) - this included broccoli from my farm share. Tortelli salad with fresh pesto and sundried tomato (basil was in farm share basket - pesto recipe in earlier blog). A fresh green salad made with romaine, baby greens and iceberg lettuce (all from the farm share). Lastly I did the experimental salad, Napa Cabbage Slaw with Snow Peas. I found the recipe on all recipes and did a bit of finegelling(spelling?) as it sounded a bit bland. It came out ok, but I actually liked it better with mayonaise added later.

I have some cabbage left, so I'll play with it again. This cabbage was huge and blocked the light in my fridge.

Napa Cabbage Slaw with Snow Peas

1/2 pound snow peas, blanched and sliced thinly

1 1/2 pounds shredded napa cabbage

2 carrots shredded

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

3 green onions, chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp rice wine vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup slivered almonds.

Combine vegetables in a large bowl (this makes a lot) with slivered almonds.

Combine lemon juice, rice wine vinegar and olive oil. Toss with vegetables.

Add fresh ground pepper if desired.

If you try this and make any variations let me know.