Salad Greens


My favorite lettuce, I love the red flecks!

I harvested the first bundle of delicate salad greens from the garden.  I planted an heirloom mix and the leaves are absolutely beautiful!  They are green with red specks all over each leaf.  I made the most amazing salad with mangoes and oranges mixed in with other vegetables, it was so colorful.  Also, I made a whole citrus vinaigrette with fresh squeezed lemon and orange juices, oh, it was good!  I could eat salad like this every day.  The best part was that the lettuce was so tender and fresh; I felt truly spoiled!


Tom Thumb lettuces...you can see where they get the name!


The funny thing about this recipe is that the next day, I took a little bit of the same salad to work with me.  While I was eating it, a little friend crawled out of the bowl.  A potato bug hitched a ride to work in my salad.  I will admit, I was a little grossed out at first, but this is what you get when you pledge yourself to the pesticide-free life.  He was organic...at least.  No, I did not eat him, I sent him on his way, no harm done.  You will find that no matter how many times you rinse your greens, something always pops out that surprises you!


A beautiful bundle of greens just dying to be made into a salad!


Mango Citrus Salad
backyard farmgals

1 head heirloom lettuce, freshly picked and thoroughly rinsed, torn into bite sized pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/3 hot house cucumber, diced
2 green onions, finely sliced
2 plum tomatoes, diced 
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 valencia orange, peeled, sectioned and cut to bite sized pieces
whole citrus vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Place the lettuce in a large bowl, add remaining ingredients and top with a good amount of vinaigrette.  Enjoy and dream of all the wonderful things you will harvest from the garden while eating this beautiful salad.

Whole Citrus Vinaigrette
Michael Chiarello (variation of original recipe)

2 lemons, juiced
2 valencia oranges, juiced
1 shallot, peeled and cut into pieces
1 - 1 1/2 cups good olive oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Juice the lemons and oranges.  In a blender, combine the juices and the shallot, a large pinch of salt and some pepper.  Blend on high, until shallot is well chopped.  With the blender on medium, add the olive oil in a steady stream until mixture becomes thick and emulsifies.  Taste to test seasoning and adjust as necessary.  

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