Salad days 

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We all want spring to be here, and for the most part it feels like it has arrived. But sometimes it's easy to get ahead of yourself. You take the snow tires off the old family wagon, and the next thing you know you're stuck at the end of your driveway because of that late-March nor'easter.

Without thinking it through, the production deparment headed to the Rochester Public Market on a Thursday afternoon. It was about an hour before closing, and between seasons, but we hoped to find the freshest offerings and make a great dish for CITY's spring installment of "Market Made."

The goal was to stick to a budget of $20 and see if we could curate a dish for two people from market-found ingredients. Ideally the dish would include as many local and seasonal ingredients as possible without going over budget.

We were able to keep it under $20, but the ingredients we had wished for weren't necessarily in full season, so we made it work as best as we could with what was available late on a Thursday at the market.

Inspiration struck, though, with the scent of roasted nuts at the other end of the pavillion. It was apparant: whatever we made, it had to have those in it.

Our team settled on a pear salad with crumbly gorgonzola cheese, a garlic and lemon dressing, sweet, roasted almonds, and fresh avocado.

After grabbing the majority of the ingredients under budget, we kept browsing and stumbled across a bag of croutons for $2 at Flour City Bakery and a loaf of bread from Union Street Bakery.

The result was a nice, light salad with hearty fruit and a sweet, crunchy element that paired (pun intended) nicely with the sour of the lemon dressing and tart cheese.

Market made

Garganzloa, pear, and roasted almond salad

Ingredients

- Pear (usually in season during the fall)
- Greens (we used romaine)
- Roasted almonds
- Crumbly gorgonzola cheese
- Green onion
- Avocado
- Lemon
- Garlic

Squeeze the juice of a lemon into a large mixing bowl. Add olive oil, diced garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss your greens in the mixture. Add diced green onion, avocado, and nuts. Add the chopped pear and enjoy.