Monday, May 24, 2010

Kare's Garden Lettuce

The title of this post was the subject of an email my Mom sent to me last Friday afternoon. The body text read as follows: Lettuce is ready to harvest. I have 3 kinds you get to choose 1. Will it be Red Leaf, Romaine, or Butter Crunch?
"Lettuce is ready to harvest" - have you ever heard a more beautiful sentence? I so wish I could grow my own lettuce. I chose Butter Crunch. She also ended up giving me some Red Leaf.
Fresh. Local. Organic. It doesn't get any better than this.
My Mom is a stellar gardener. Always has been.
Tonight I made a Butter Crunch Salad with Citrus Dijon Dressing.
Salad dressing:
-1/4 cup olive oil
-2 tsp Dijon mustard
-1 tsp white wine vinegar
-1/2 tsp honey
-1/2 tsp of lemon juice
-juice of 1/2 an orange
-coarse sea salt
-fresh ground pepper
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk. I don't make my own dressing often (ever?) But tonight, I thought I owed it to the lettuce.
The salad for two combined about half the head of butter crunch lettuce, washed thoroughly, patted dry and torn by hand.
Along with a couple handfuls of sliced almonds
1/2 a red onion sliced
1/2 an orange torn into chunks.
1/2 of a ripe avocado (my salad only)
handful of goat cheese crumbles (my salad only)
handful of feta cheese crumbles (Adam's salad only)
Adam doesn't like goat cheese (how?) or avocado (something I will never understand.) So I tossed the lettuce, almonds, onion, and dressing first. I plated the salad and topped with the respective cheese crumbles, my avocado, and the delicate orange chunks.
We drank a Tamas Estate Pinot Grigio. The vibrant aromas and flavors of green apple and citrus are refreshing and pair well with salads, especially one with a citrus dressing!
Love wine bottles with fun labels.
Love easy dinners.
The lettuce's buttery broad leaves and crisp tender ribs make me proud to say this is some of the best lettuce I will ever eat. My Mother has outdone herself once again!

18 comments:

  1. You OWED it to the lettuce (to make your own dressing!!, haha! I always make my own dressing and I love the honey+mustard combination. Salads are great and feel so healthy, even if it's with fattening cheese (I like Parmesan) etc.

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  2. Oh I'm jealous- I dream about being able to walk into my backyard and come back with fresh lettuce for dinner!

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  3. "But tonight, I thought I owed it to the lettuce."

    I think the lettuc would be proud!

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  4. wish I can grow my own veggies..so fresh and healthy!

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  5. omg that looks delicious! And your dressing sounds awesome too! Try this one- I just made it up this week- Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit, 1 Fresh Squeezed Lemon, a couple splashes of Red Wine Vinegar, Dijon, Any Fresh Herbs you may have or just dry thyme, and S & P. Yum!!! I can't wait for my CSA!

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  6. Looks SO yummy!! :) Tonight I'm making a nice salad too bceause it's so hot here! no cooking...

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  7. Love the freshness of this salad...so colorful and tasty :-)

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  8. A lovely salad! I love the addition of avocado!

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  9. i had the same problem when i made salads - alex doesn't like most cheeses or avocado either. they are insane.

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  10. wow - with fresh ingredients like that, how could you go wrong?

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  11. How great that you can just pop into your backyard and get something for dinner? Here in LA that is unheard of! I am quite jealous.

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  12. Thanks everyone for your sweet comments!! Lizzy - I am certainly making that dressing.
    Mina - you must miss making salads for your non avocado and non cheese loving husband.
    Ameena - I live in Boston. I do not have a backyard or a front for that matter to grow anything! The lettuce is from my mothers garden. haha so you can be jealous of her! I am too.

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  13. Yum! Nothing better than food grown and prepared with love!

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  14. I'm never been a big fan of salads but lately, I've been loving them!! In fact, I love that you added red onions and feta cheese because I do that too! But I also add little steak pieces on the top just so that it feels more like a meal ;-)

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  15. This is awesome Daisy! I love eating things picked right out of the garden.

    You know I live in Boston, too. There isn't a lot of room, but I still grow things in pots scattered around my house; herbs, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and this year, strawberries also.

    Just seeing the roots on that lettuce gets me all giddy. And, second only to "In my heart we're already married. Will you be my wife?", I have not heard a more beautiful sentence than "Lettuce is ready to harvest." =)

    Thanks so much for your comment on my blog. I was passionate about that show. The cinnamon were delish! ;-)

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  16. The dressing sounds summery and delicious.
    I want to try growing my own veggies when I move to my new condo. I wonder if they can grow on a patio...I need to get a book out of the library on this sort of thing because I'm clueless.
    How can anyone not like goat cheese? He's missing out! Have a fabulous long weekend!

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