Salad Days
by Laura Frerichs, Tastemaker in Residence
The days are long, the grass is a brilliant technicolor green, the rains have been plentiful the last few weeks ending our winter/spring drought, and we have already several acres of vegetables planted and growing. The summer crops of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, winter squash, and melons will get planted out this week, and while we eagerly await those favored crops, there are other spring lovelies we are eating. A major crop for us right now is lettuces and salad mixes, and we are harvesting 6-12 different varieties of lettuce each week. The names of the lettuces alone are so fun and alluring: Carmona (my favorite red butter lettuce--pic attached), Little Gem, Speckled Trout Back, Coastal Star Romaine, Outredgeous, and Amish Deer Tongue (the best heirloom lettuce I've ever eaten--grow some in your garden next year!!).
With a salad spinner and variety of colors and textures of fresh lettuce, a fantastic salad becomes a remarkably easy, satisfying option. Ask your favorite farmer what their favorite lettuce is and discover something new!
Greek-ish Salad
Ingredients
2 heads lettuce, mixed colors and types OR 1/2 pound mixed baby salad greens
4 oz. great feta cheese, crumbled
Handful of kalamata pitted olives, chopped
3 farm-fresh hard-boiled eggs, quartered
6 radishes, thinly sliced
Creamy Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing - from bon apetit
Instructions
- Wash and spin the lettuce dry.
- Tear head lettuce into large pieces and place in festive salad bowl. Top with feta cheese, olives, sliced radishes, and the hard-boiled eggs.
- Drizzle with Creamy Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing.