Pages

Every time you feel in God's creatures something pleasing and attractive, do not let your attention be arrested by them alone, but, passing them by, transfer your thought to God and say: "O my God, if Thy creations are so full of beauty, delight and joy, how infinitely more full of beauty, delight and joy art Thou Thyself, Creator of all!
- Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

You can’t get to joy by making everything perfect. You can only get there by seeing in every imperfection all that’s joy.
-Ann Voscamp

Thursday, June 23, 2011

First Salad and Mango Dressing

Tonight we're having our first real salad from the garden. Yay! Spinach, lambs quarters and itty bitty Tom Thumb lettuces thinned from the row. Yes, I'm growing lambs quarters (or rather it's growing in my garden). We love it mixed with our salad greens, so wherever it pops up I let it stay until it's about to seed out. Officially I guess it's a wild edible that happens to be growing in my garden.



We'll be eating it with this dressing I made last week. I can call it "my recipe" now because it's been messed with considerably. I can never keep a recipe the way I found it, so most of them become originals. ;)

Maple Mango Dressing

flesh of one mango, or about 1c. frozen mango (I used frozen)
1/2 c. water (I used less, adding it at the end to get the consistency and intensity of flavor I wanted)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp onion powder (or some minced onion or chives, as much as you want - I used a handful of chives)
a handful of fresh basil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional - I left it out)
about 2 T pure maple syrup (adjust for sweetness of the mango, and to taste)

Add all of the ingredients except water and half of the maple syrup to food processor and pulse until smooth and creamy. Adjust maple syrup for desired sweetness. Add water to reach desired strength and consistency.

This salad dressing was heavenly! My mouth is watering right now. I've got to go finish dinner. Enjoy! :)
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

4 comments:

  1. ErinJune 23, 2011 at 6:08 PM

    Congrats on that salad! Those first crops of the season are such a relief, glad yours is now underway!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mama PeaJune 23, 2011 at 6:45 PM

    Congrats on your first home grown salad of the season! I've replanted my lettuce once and upon taking a look/see of the bed tonight, I am beginning to suspect that the crows that are hopping around in our garden at dawn every morning have been snatching the tiny, little lettuce shoots. Rats.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Judy TJune 23, 2011 at 7:43 PM

    Great salad. I've got lambsquarter's galore in my garden- so many that they are, in fact, weeds. We do eat some. I was so disheartened this evening. I was going to harvest some romaine and discovered that a deer had done the job for me. 8 heads- gone. sigh....
    Judy

    ReplyDelete
  4. PattyJune 23, 2011 at 9:01 PM

    Mama Pea and Judy-
    That is frustrating to say the least. I haven't had deer yet this year, and I don't think any birds have stolen anything. I'm thankful for that! The insect pests are somewhat of a problem though.
    Erin- It's funny that it's always so, but you're right. Every year those first crops ARE a relief, or something like that. I think for me it's always something of a miracle that I can put a seed in the ground, and up comes something good! Strangely, every year I'm a bit of a skeptic until it happens.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)