Basic Vinaigrette (Plus Variations!)

Our Go-To Vinaigrette Recipe

It’s so easy to make and tastes way better than store-bought dressings. You can change up the flavours by choosing the vinegar that suits your salad best. Recipe yields 3/4 cup dressing, enough for about 6 medium salads (assuming 2 tablespoons per salad).

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

  • 3 tablespoons vinegar of choice (balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar)

  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

  • 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced

  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a liquid measuring cup or bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Stir well with a small whisk or a fork until the ingredients are completely mixed together.

  2. Taste, and adjust as necessary. If the mixture is too acidic, thin it out with a bit more olive oil or balance the flavors with a little more maple syrup or honey. If the mixture is a little blah, add another pinch or two of salt. If it doesn’t have enough zing, add vinegar by the teaspoon.

  3. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for future use. Homemade vinaigrette keeps well for 7 to 10 days. If your vinaigrette solidifies somewhat in the fridge, don’t worry about it—real olive oil tends to do that. Simply let it rest at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes or microwave very briefly (about 20 seconds) to liquify the olive oil again. Whisk to blend and serve.

NOTES

Balsamic vinegar: Makes a bold, slightly sweet dressing that is wonderful on green salads with fruit, such as apples, strawberries or peaches.

Red wine vinegar: Packs a punch and works well with other bold flavors and bright veggies, like tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, cabbage and more (think Greek salads).

White wine vinegar: This is a more mellow vinegar and it’s especially nice with more delicate flavors like cucumber and sweet corn. It’s lovely on just about every green salad out there.

Greek/Italian variation: Use red wine vinegar. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons dried oregano and, optionally, a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Recipe by : Cookie + Kate

April On the Farm

While the fields may still be sopping wet, the coming farm season is forever on our minds! We wanted to drop into your inbox this morning to say hello, and let you know we are thinking of you all the time! Winter work looked quite different than summer, but was just as important. We've been building out our farm plans for not only the 50+ vegetable crops we grow, but also equipment, infrastructure, the farm team, marketing, soil management, and logistics. Seed orders have been rolling in (pictured below) and last week we fired up our nursery greenhouse and have started the first seeds!

WE'VE ADDED
U-Pick Flowers

A New Perk for Farm Share Members this year! Come stroll the long beds of flowers, while you cut and build your own bouquet of fresh blooms. (Yes, it is as dreamy as it sounds!)

5 QUESTIONS

Take our Farm QUIZ!

We want our joy, to be your joy too! And running a CSA for a while - we know quite well who a Farm Share Box is a TON of a fun for! Take our quiz to see if a Farm Share Box is your kind of fun!

And don't delay - some pick up sites are already selling out!



Organic Farming Practices Protect Natural Resources

Conservation and regeneration of natural resources are core tenets of organic agriculture. They’re also key to fighting climate change. When you eat with Joyfully Organic Farm, you’re directly supporting our efforts to strengthen Ontario’s natural resources and build climate resilience.

How? For starters, instead of applying pesticides and herbicides, we opt for alternative practices that protect our waterways, air quality, and soils. Instead of suppressing biodiversity, we view the farm as an ecosystem, a habitat for many, and work with nature to support biodiversity, protecting wildlife and pollinators.

These practices not only reduce the effects of climate change, but develop our resilience to its consequences in a myriad of ways–here are just a couple of examples:

  • Healthy waterways and soil hydrologies absorb heavy rain events, mitigating flood damage.

  • Strong wildlife and pollinator populations keep food webs in check and ensure the proliferation of both wild and cultivated plant life.

  • Healthy soils sequester carbon.

  • And the reduction of greenhouse gasses (from opting out of hazardous fertilizers and pesticides) slows the very rate at which climate change develops.

Of course, each of these natural resources is connected to, and directly impacted by, its peers. Healthy soils support healthy wildlife populations, clean air protects pollinators, improved soil structure bolsters water quality, and so on. As one factor is strengthened, they all are. And that’s just what climate resilience is requiring of us: an investment in this complex, interconnected web of land and life, such that it can withstand the more extreme and less predictable effects we’ve come to expect from climate change. With effort and investment in the right places, we can develop climate resilience 💪 .

Every dollar spent with Joyfully Organic Farm represents a multitude of benefits beyond that tasty tomato. You’re contributing towards a future with clean, swimmable, drinkable water; healthy wildlife and pollinator populations, fewer greenhouse gas emissions; and last but not least, an improved resilience to climate change as a result of all of the above. We thank you for your support of climate-friendly farming–we couldn’t do this work without it.


Kitchen Guide: Roasting Veggies

7 Tips for Perfect Roasting Every Time

1. Preheat your sheet pan at 400 F. +
To get that nice browned edge, roast your veggies on a pre-heated pan.
2. Cut vegetables of equal size. +
Try to keep them around 1 inch so they cook evenly.
3. Toss them with oil.
Oil is a necessary ingredient to get the caramelized edges. You can use avocado oil, olive oil, or coconut oil. Use about 1 T. per pound of veg. Toss with your hands.
4. Season with salt and pepper. +
At the very least, season with kosher salt and pepper. But have some fun experimenting with other spice blends.
5. Don't overcrowd the pan. +
Veggies will steam instead of roast if you pack them too tightly. Leave plenty of breathing room.
6. Roast at 400 F for 20-45 minutes.
High heat is required for roasting. Cook heartier veggies longer than more delicate ones. Look for the toasty tips and edges that signify doneness.
7. Stir the vegetables halfway through cooking.

OPTIONAL: When the roasted vegetables come out you can toss them in a roasting vinaigrette to season them. Stir up: 2 Tbsp White wine vinegar + 1 Tbsp Olive oil + 1/8 tsp pepper + 1/4 tsp Salt + 1 tsp honey + 1 medium shallot minced. Toss hot vegetables in vinaigrette.

PRO TIP: Roasting veg is not merely for the standards like potatoes and carrots. Just about every vegetable is fair game! Don't forget to include: radishes (yes radishes!), kohrlabi, peppers, onions, green beans, eggplant, cabbage, turnips, beets, and zucchini!

Imagine feeling relieved because eating health is suddenly made easy

Exciting news! Your chance to join our incredible Farm Share for 2022 - opens in just a few days. We are planning our BEST year yet - hence my face below :) We expect spots to go fast, so put February 8th at 7 am on your calendar, because we wouldn't want you to miss out. 

Until then, we are going to answer all the questions you might be wondering... What's inside that glorious box of veg? How do I sign up? What's this I hear about access to a U-Pick Flower Garden?! (Spoiler: it's true!)

Stay tuned to your inbox for all the glorious details. And in the meantime...

In the meantime imagine...

...being excited about what you eat because it's fresh + the flavours are incredible

...feeling relieved because eating healthy is suddenly made easy 

...being proud because you eat locally + know your farmer personally

...feeling included in our special + fun farm community

... feeling confident in the kitchen because  of all the cooking education that's provided free with your weekly box

For you to download, print + keep!