Green Goodness

 My garden is filled to the brim with lettuce right now

 I usually plant or sow directly into the vegetable beds 

with really great results

 You can find Mesclun mixes 

in just about every nursery and there are some great Internet sources 

like  Shepard's Seeds and 

Renee's Seeds 

which happens to be my favorite

 Some times I let the plant get a bit to big and the lettuce is tough 

but in the case of Arugula

you can eat the little flower petals too!

 I pretty much toss in anything that is ready for picking

like radishes and peas 

 The spring onions are really big now 

and

I have leeks and red onions this year too  

 If I can't get the onions to pull out easily from the dirt

 I use a sharp paring knife and cut them off right at the base 

which works fine  too

 Back in the kitchen....lets make a salad

 I usually give the newly harvested green a good 5 - 10 minute soak

 in ice cold water in a salad spinner

What that does is it crisps up the greens a little bit

Then I triple wash...sometimes 4 washes are necessary

 I don't use any pesticides but I like to be sure I have gotten off all of the dirt 

and the little bugs that can hide in the leaves

 All the greens get dumped on to a kitchen towel and are sorted into zip lock bags 

this lets me check every thing over one last time 

and get a nice interesting mix of lettuce varieties into each bag

 now that we have our salad greens....how about some vinaigrette!

 This is a heavenly Meyer lemon concoction 

that you will love

 I will list all of the ingredients at the end 

so you can 

jot it down if you like

 I usually use 3 Meyer lemons

( I have 4 large lemon trees but the Meyers always get used up first!)

I you can't find Meyers 

you can use 2 regular lemon's and one orange

 to create a similar taste

 I use olive oil and Canola oil 

( its nice to balance out the flavors with both)

Dijon mustard

 add in some finely chopped shallot

and some vinegar

 salt and pepper to taste

and a bit of tarragon

I never have fresh tarragon and the dried works fine in this recipe 

 whisk it up and then store in a jar 

with a nice tight lid 

suitable for shaking

 This is the best dressing

I use it on salads of course but it is great on: 

Grilled chicken

Grilled Vegetable's like zucchini and peppers

and it is heaven over vine ripe tomatoes!

or to use as a dip for a  big slice of crusty french bread!

Did I say YUMMY?!

Here is the recipe:

Feel free to tweak as you like

juice from 3 Meyer lemons (look for about 3/4 cups of juice)

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Canola oil

1/4 cup sweet wine vinegar ( I use a Rose' Wine Vinegar because I like the sweetness to balance out the lemon juice)

1/4 cup Dijon mustard ( I usually mix the smooth with the grainy together)

1 large shallot finely minced

1 Tbl dried Tarragon

Salt and Fresh ground pepper to taste

Yield: 2 1/2 cups of Vinaigrette

Shake well before using

Have a fun and relaxing weekend

hope you find time to putter in the garden too!