Tarragon Turkey Salad Lettuce Cups with Plums and Toasted Almonds

Prep time: 15 minutes

12oz. Extra thick, deli-sliced, low sodium oven-roasted turkey breast

2 Fresh California plums, pitted and diced

½ cup thinly sliced celery

¼ cup minced red onion

¼ cup light mayonnaise

2 tablespoons fat-free plain yogurt

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon

Sea salt to taste

3 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

12 butter lettuce leaves

Directions

Stir together all ingredients except almonds and lettuce in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Stir in almonds just before serving. Spoon about 1/4 cup mixture into each lettuce leaf.

Makes 4 servings

Nutritional analysis per serving: Calories: 170; Fat: 7g; Saturated Fat: 0g; Trans Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 45mg; Sodium: 740mg; Carbohydrates: 9g; Fiber: 2g; Sugars: 5g; Protein: 17g; Vitamin A: 15%; Vitamin C: 8%; Calcium: 6%, Iron: 2%

Tags: california plums, Central Valley, Plum Recipes

Posted in Plumbelievable Recipes

We had a chance to visit with Jeff Enos last week at his farm and packinghouse as he was harvesting the Tulare Giant prune variety. Most of the Tulare Giants were being packed for export to the European and Asian markets, as there is a much larger fresh prune market outside of the United States.

Enos is a third-generation plum grower who resides in Visalia, California, and still lives on the same farm established by his grandfather, Tony, in the late 1940s. The Enos family farm specializes in fresh California plums, Jeff’s favorite variety being the Catalina plum, which he describes as “crisp, juicy and totally refreshing.

Taking a short break from a busy packing line we took a walk through Jeff’s plum orchards and talked about his farm, what it means to him to be a farmer today and his plans for the future. He was upbeat and positive about his season so far, happy that there had been no weather related issues yet. Sometimes late season hailstorms can ruin entire crops. “Plums, although sturdier than nectarines and peaches are still delicate,” Jeff said, “late season hail storms can bruise the skin and sometimes knock the plum right off the tree.” Jeff talked about the care and time it takes to make sure the trees are getting the right amount of water and nutrients, only to be wiped out days before harvest by bad weather. As frustrating as that is, he explained how he tries not to stress out about the things that are out of his control and left to mother nature.

He expressed some of his fears that came along to new potential regulations that could make it difficult for him to stay in business. He hadn’t cited anything specific but just generally what new regulations mean to him.  “It’s not that I disagree with any new regulations because most of them mean well, they have good intentions,” Jeff said, “it’s just that in tough economic times it’s difficult for me as a small grower to be able to spend the money it takes to meet those new regulations”

Keeping family in the business, Jeff had his two teenage daughters working alongside him in the packinghouse. Although they had been born into farming, they only have time to work on the farm during their summer break from school. When asked what he would like to see happen to farming in the next ten years, he glanced over to his two daughters, paused and expressed his concern that there are not that many young people getting into farming. Both as a result of lack of interest, and because of the financial barriers a young person must overcome to get into the business. “A bank, especially now, is not going to loan anyone especially a 22 year-old the money it takes to get a farm up and running,” Jeff said, “the start up costs are just too high.”

Jeff wants to see more young people come back to farming and continue what their families have started. “It takes a love and commitment to the land that I am trying to instill in my children with the hope that they will want to farm and continue our family’s farming tradition.”

We captured part of our time with Jeff and his daughters on film and will have more of our time together posted here shortly…stay tuned!

Tags: california agriculture, california plums, family farms, local, Plums, visalia plum growers

Posted in Plum Growers