I wrote a story, which ran in today’s Journal, about The Natural Trading Company’s Community Supported Agriculture harvest boxes. After touring the Newcastle farm Tuesday morning, which was a lot of fun, owner Bryan Kaminsky and farm manager Shaun Clarke were nice enough to send me and Ben Furtado, Journal photo editor, back to the newsroom with a box full of fresh, organic produce.

Kaminsky told me that they’re sure to provide recipes for CSA clients, so they have an idea of what to do with whatever their weekly harvest boxes contain.

Our particular box was made up of, among other items, red-leaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes, an Armenian cucumber, carrots, basil, Italian parsley and yellow onions.

“What should I do with this stuff?” I said, ogling the gorgeous produce.

Kaminsky’s answer was obvious — make a salad.

And that’s exactly what I did, and I brought it in to share with everyone in the newsroom today.

Journal news editor Michelle Miller-Carl described it as a “rabbit’s smorgasbord” upon first glance. The red of the tomatoes and the orange of the carrots really popped against the green bed of lettuce. I’ll have to add chopped basil to more of my salads, as the aromatic herb added another element to this salad, which was dressed with a simple sprinkle of red wine vinegar.

Learn more about The Natural Trading Company and their CSA program here.