Simple Salad

The spring rewards us with lots of yummy salad greens and we try to make the most of them because, all too soon, they will be gone due to the arrival of hot weather.   

Tom plants a mixture of lettuce seeds that consists of 5 different varieties.  Here's a picture of what a typical bed looks like.  Sometimes we broadcast the seed in a raised bed like this.  Other times, Tom plants them in rows out in the field.  Either way, the different lettuces grow together in tight formation.  To harvest, we simply take scissors and cut off all except about an inch of the plants.  The leaves will regrow from the base of the plant.  You can do this about 3 times.  This is called "cut and come again" harvesting.

Once harvested, I wash the mixture, drain it in a colander and lay it on a kitchen towel to dry.



I generally add some extra ingredients, depending on what is in season.  In the picture below, you see a sample of what I recently put together to make a salad.  The lettuce mixture is on the left, next is some baby arugula, then some chives and finally on the right is a sprig of parsley.  The parsley can be over-powering in taste, so I only add a little.



Mix these together, top with shaved turkey, a boiled egg and some grated cheese. 

Top with your favorite dressing, and, there you have it, a quick, easy supper.