This photo made the social media rounds this week, and it really was a lovely dinner. Salad Nicoise is an annual event on the farm, to welcome new potatoes and green beans, along with quite a few other lovely veggies in your CSA box.

This is a great segue into the joys of eating seasonally, when a salad is elevated to a celebration when all the components are as fresh as they possibly can be. While it’s possible to have salad nicoise in February, it’s also quite unsustainable for the lettuce, green beans, tomatoes and other vegetables that don’t grow here that month to make an appearance on the table. By then, there are other dishes to celebrate! Lettuce makes way for chards and kale, salads become stews and soups. and warm, nourishing comfort foods again take center stage.

Celebrate the season, relish all the freshness and welcome the transition that’s already in the air as we start to don layers to take off the chill.