A summer that will be remembered...

When they look back at this summer they will remember. Remember the ground pepper, the vinegar, the smattering of chives that are proud to mingle with perfectly candied walnuts and fat dollops of chevré. Or maybe they will reminisce about the creamy yogurt-dill dressing that coats warm french lentils and crunchy pea pods. Perhaps the combination of cherry tomatoes, avocado and mango will be recalled more fondly. But the one thing they will never forget is the lettuce. Green and crispy, standing up to the weight of the glorious toppings and herbs, yet still gentle and soft in your mouth. Each leaf different - bright green, veined with burgundy, spiky and spicy, pale and curly and underestimated.... oh yes. This summer will not be forgotten.

For this summer I am growing my own salad mix!!! What... too much build-up? Well, I'm proud, you see. I have sprinkled these seeds with my own hands, watered and waited. I have watched them with glee as they curled up from the black soil, fanning out and stretching upward, higher and higher daily; I have suffered through the sinking of my heart as I dutifully plucked every second or third sprout to give the stronger ones room to grow. And now they are overflowing their pots, ready to be snipped and noshed on! Oh, the drama, the excitement of lettuce!



This magnificent mountain of mesclun should last me through the entire summer, and what leaves are still standing come late August will be thrown into one gigantic salad bowl as I tear up the pots to make room for yet another planting to last all autumn! The children will run through the streets crying "salad! salad! Oy, the salad!" and their mothers will swoon, and summer's green bounty shall be shared with everyone in my...um...apartment complex... and ... and ... and... uhhh, maybe not everyone can appreciate the joy of growing your own greens, but you see where I'm going, right? This summer will not find me once at my local co-op paying 8.99/lb for pre-washed yet poorly sorted salad mix (Ok Earthbound farms - I get it - you're from California and you put cilantro on everything). You know, I'm usually not a salad girl, but growing it on my own patio makes sticking to a diet much more delightful.

Besides the 3 pots of different baby greens varieties, I have a few other pots crammed onto my little deck to show off. Cauliflower did so well last year, so I've started it again, this time instead of a buttery yellow I've picked the green variety. White cauliflower is so boring. Among other herbs that are still sprouting, and some that have yet to be brought home, I've got a great start on thyme, sage and cilantro - and yes, those are birthday candles sticking out. I'm using them as markers for my planting dates. Those are big chives sprouting out of the flower pot, and their neighbors are scabiosa and lobelia, whose flowers should encourage a few beneficial bugs to visit my small garden.







I'm not just gardening because I love to garden (though I do!), I specifically chose the things I purchase the most often at the grocery store that go bad in my fridge the fastest. The only thing I'm missing is parsley, and I really should get a pot of that too. As long as you can be bothered to spring for a decent potting soil, and venture outside with a watering can every other day you can grow your own herbs and veggies too. When I told hubby that he could snip a few of our lettuce leaves whenever he was in a salad kind of mood he said "that would feel so unnatural" because he's never picked his own food before. It saddens me that a lot of people feel that way, I think, because we are so disconnected from where our food comes from. But you know, if you go back just a few generations you will find that farming, of some sort or another, is in your family history. It used to be that you had to grown your own food to stay alive. Perhaps due to climate change and over-population it will be that way again someday. But I've got to tell you, just because you don't have to grow your own food right now doesn't mean you shouldn't - and there is nothing like that satisfaction of preparing a meal that you grew yourself.

Well, anyway, I'll leave you with a recipe for one of those salads I mentioned. This one was inspired by one from Delicious Magazine.

Warm Lentil Salad

Mixed Greens
French Lentils (or any lentils for that matter)
Fresh Snap peas, trimmed

Dressing:

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp brown rice vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 small bunch dill, finely chopped

Cook the lentils as directed on the package. Get your snap peas and lettuce mix ready while you're waiting. Toss them together.

For the dressing: Whisk all ingredients together.

Add the lentils to the salad while they're still warm, then pour the yogurt dressing over the top. No need to toss it, the combination of warm lentils and cold yogurt is a good one.

Easy peasy lemon squeezee!

xoxo

me