Last night as Vince and I were munching on these salads, we were discussing the sorry state of lettuce in stores these days. We can usually get iceberg, red leaf and green leaf but that’s about it. And, it’s often not real fresh and more often lately, it’s quite expensive. But this time of year, I just go out into the back yard and pick a bunch of greens. I grow Mesclun Mix and plant a handful of seeds every four or five days. As it gets hotter, I have to be careful because it will bolt so I pull the leaves quite early. There’s nothing like having fresh lettuce for salads and sandwiches.
I picked a few radishes too but ended up not using them because I remembered I had some fresh strawberries, which I sliced and added to the salad along with some toasted almond slivers.
For the dressing, I used a little garlic, a little olive oil and a bit of cinnamon pear balsamic. That balsamic is good on everything!
The wonderful, fresh taste of a home grown salad is more important to me than the cost but for a $1 packet of seeds, I have enough lettuce to give us a salad every night for a couple of weeks. Try spending $1 for lettuce in the store and have it give you enough for salads every night for 2 weeks! Even if you don’t have a garden spot, it’s pretty easy to grow lettuce in containers.
And the dressing — just a little garlic, a little olive oil and some good quality balsamic. About 1/8 cup is enough for two salads. Compared to the cost of salad dressing in a bottle, this homemade concoction is almost free.
NancyB in AZ says
Makes my mouth water. Yum
lw says
It’s all about the shade cloth out here in CA. I grow my own lettuce and kale, and for the last few years, a few hot days in April or May would turn it bitter, it would bolt and shed seeds. This year, we bought some shade cloth and it’s still going strong. I hope that we can keep it all summer. If it does go bitter, I’m going to replant, even if it’s August, just to see what happens.
Regina says
Yum!! Mine is nearly ready to start harvesting -I drool in anticipation! Spinach and other greens fresh from the garden – there IS no comparison!
PJ says
Judy…where do you find/buy this brand of cinnamon pear balsamic vinegar? I can get the Colavita olive oil easily. TIA
Marilyn Smith says
I always make my own dressing. I have not met a bottled dressing that I really like. My dad used to make the best vinegar out of wine they did not care for. Raspberry, garlic, tarragon, basil – and just plain red. He had a mini oak barrel, down in the cool basement. He would filter it a number of times in diatomaceous something or other. Had the mother in the oak barrel. Boy, that was so good!
Beautiful salad – we eat lots of salad in CA!
Hilary McDaniel says
Judy, you’ll have to grow lettuce w/morning sun only starting in mid April on. We grow all our veggies under hoops w/shade cloth. We grow 12 months and rotate. We make our own compost, rebuild the soil, totally organic. You’ll really need a few chicks out here in Texas as we have home grown grasshoppers you can hitch a ride on. Drip irrigation is a must as you’ll have to mortgage the house to pay the water bill. Gardening has its issues in Texas but we’re so fortunate as we grow 99% of our veggies year round, rotating what’s in season. We experiment w/asian greens, middle eastern squashes, all different kinds of veggies, weird or not as you never know when you’ll find a keeper. I’m not afraid to try anything once, so we like to have fun w/it. Greens are my staples and must haves. We’re trying to grow the heirloom tomatoes again, but that’s the hardest thing to grow here as they shut down production after 90+ degrees. This year we put them in big containers in dappled shade hoping to fool them. You learn to work w/nature
in Texas. It’s still better than being stuck to only a 3 month growing season like they have in some of the northern areas.
Lynne in Hawaii says
Wow…that sounds sooo good! Looks pretty terrific too. I can nearly taste it!
Shirley Albertson Owens (sao) says
YUM….I never knew you could grow lettuce in containers….I am going to try this…..is it too late *as you can see, I know nothing about growing lettuce. I do have my tomatoes in containers (two upside down and 3 ground containers!) and I have two hanging strawberry plants! It is so much fun!
I will have to try your dressing!
sao in Midlothian, VA