1 tablespoon Bragg Amino Acids

                           1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions: Combine all three ingredients. Shake, stir and serve. 

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Betty’s Sesame Salad Dressing:

Adding toasted sesame oil will instantly make any dish Asian-y. Even though I’ve omitted the vinegar in this recipe, you might experiment by adding a little rice vinegar. Note: Use toasted sesame oil — and not bland, cold-pressed sesame oil.

Ingredients: 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

                             1 tablespoon Bragg Amino Acids

                            1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Instructions: Combine all three ingredients. Shake, stir and serve.

Trader Joe’s has GREAT olive oil & vinegars at terrific prices. It carries a 5-oz. bottle of toasted sesame oil for $2.29. Whole Foods has it too (8-oz., $3.39). But my favorite brand is Kadoya, from Japan (11 oz., $4.29); sold at Asian markets.

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 Now about your salad…support local farmers! 

I want to end this post with a personal plea. Irene really hurt our local farming community. And if you’re reading this outside of New York, please read on because your farmers need you too.

They are all on my mind, especially after reading these two stories in The New York Times:

• Irene is expected to be one of the 10 costliest catastrophes ever in this country. The problem is that most property insurance won’t cover flooding & few folks have flood insurance. This means if your property was destroyed your insurance company won’t give you enough money to rebuild (unless the government steps in).
• Irene destroyed dozens of upstate farms and devastated countless more. Huge tracts of crops were lost. Much of the land is still under water.

The farmers work so hard and bring us such joy. Eating their just-picked vegetables and fruit in season is a healthy, sustainable practice. And if I’m sometimes paying more for some items, they deserve my money because they’re delivering quality.

The photo below was taken last Saturday at my favorite stand. It isn’t organic but I don’t care. A lot of small farmers just can’t afford the expense of getting organic certification and I am totally okay with that.

At this coming Saturday’s market, we’ll find out how our farmers survived Irene. No matter what, I’ll buy what they have.

If you’d like to find a farmers market in your area, here are some sources to get your started:

• In New York City, GrowNYC.org runs “greenmarkets.” This is its brand name for markets that include the famous Union Square Greenmarket which is a favorite of NYC chefs. 
• For other NYC market options, try NYFarmersMarket.com.
• And for a listing of markets around the country: LocalHarvest.org.

Before I go, I just have to mention my new passion for radishes, especially their tops, which I used to throw away. I first read about actually eating radish greens on Kian Lam Kho’s drool-worthy cooking blog. I’m too lazy to do his recipes but his post inspired me to improvise some simple options.

Discovery #1: Radishes taste good cooked. #2: Their green leaves are also delish cooked in a little olive oil + water. When done, add Bragg. This is a freehand version of my salad dressing!