We’ve relied on Anna Getty for some great green home tips and a little helpful advice for encouraging safe and eco-friendly habits in our families. Now we’re peeking in on Anna’s casual Sunday open houses. Anna’s simple, farmer’s market-fueled Sunday get-togethers have turned into a cozy ritual that her friends and family have come to treasure. Here Anna shares a few easy and casual recipes that remind us all just how refreshing it can be to take the time to care for friends and family and dig in to the season’s best fresh and local ingredients. Be inspired and let us know how you like to entertain below!

In October of last year I started hosting a Sunday open house. I love to cook for friends, so I decided that every few weeks my front door would open and friends could just come in, eat, swim, chat and chill out. My friends come with their families, the kids play, we eat and talk about food or current events or children or…food. I only have the time to host these get-togethers about once a month and they are always casual affairs where people can just grab food, read the paper and relax. But here we are in May and it’s been eights months or so of this lovely and cozy ritual!

Every now and again a friend will bring food over. In November my friend Stefan’s mother-in-law brought an amazing Austrian Goulash and Potato Salad. But, generally, this is my opportunity to hit the farmer’s market and cook and I want folks to come and enjoy a cozy afternoon being pampered by me and my family.

I start each Sunday morning off at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, where I feel like the mayor, every ten feet bumping into another old or new friend. I pick up seasonal, local and organic food, come home and cook until my guests arrive. For my most recent open house, I was able to create some tasty dishes with spring’s new bounty. I poked around and found pea tendrils, peas, asparagus, gem lettuces, radishes and locally made La Nogalerea walnut oil. I found amazing blue corn muffins and salted caramel croissants from Valerie Confections, a wonderful local artisan bakery, grabbed some goat cheese from Soledad Goats, famous for their goat cheese balls marinated in olive oil and herbs in mason jars, and Pressed Juicery dropped off a dozen lovely fruit and vegetable juices to enjoy.

• Gem Lettuces with Walnut Vinaigrette & Oven-Roasted Asparagus with Hard-Boiled Egg
  Serves 6-10

• Salad Ingredients:
  For the salad:
  

   

  8 heads little gem lettuces, washed tried and torn to bite size pieces

  1 large pink grapefruit, sections peeled and the flesh removed from the pith, broken into bite size pieces

  1 small head fennel, fronds removed, cut into thin slices

  4-5 small radishes, thinly sliced rounds

  1 large and ripe Haaas Avocado cut into cubes

   

  For the vinaigrette:

   

  1 medium shallot, finely minced

  Maldon or Kosher salt to taste

  1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

  2 Tablespoons lemon juice

  3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil

  1/4 cup Walnut oil

   fresh cracked pepper to taste
• Salad Directions:

  In a mason jar combine the shallot, salt, vinegar and lemon juice, place the lid on the jar and then shake up the ingredients. Then add the olive and walnut oils and pepper and continue shaking till emulsified.

  Place all remaining ingredients into a large bowl and gently toss with the vinaigrette.

• Asparagus Ingredients:
  2 bunches asparagus tips about 4-5 inches long (Look for the thinnest asparagus you can find for better roasting)

  salt

  olive oil

  2 hard boiled eggs, finely chopped

  1 block Italian parmesan cheese (Don’t be fooled when it says 'imported'. It may come from China or Argentina. Look for Made in Italy -it simply tastes better!)

  Freshly cracked pepper to taste

  Basil, finely chopped for garnish
• Asparagus Directions:
  Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

   

  Place asparagus tips in a shallow baking dish, sprinkle with a large pinch of salt and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes then increase oven temperature to broil and broil for 3-5 minutes, making sure asparagus does not burn.

   

  Remove from oven and allow to cool 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle the crumbled hard boiled egg pieces evenly over the asparagus. Using a vegetable peeler, gently shave thin parmesan slivers over the egg. Then sprinkle the basil over the dish and pepper to taste.

  *Note: I had a little bit of extra dressing from the gem lettuce salad and spooned some of it over my asparagus on my plate. Delish!
• Learn more about Anna and her favorite recipes, plus her favorite cause at her site here.