First Salad

Earlier this week I made the first salad with ingredients from my garden: radishes, baby lettuce, dill and shallot leaves. The later is basically green onions, but without white part; just pick a few from the plant, not all.

 Chop it all up, add some salt and sour cream. Now that's the taste of spring.

Pickled Peppers

The other night I pickled our sweet banana, jalapeno, cajun and chili peppers. I found the recipe online. My husband says they are not hot anymore, but I think they are plenty spicy.

Ode to Dill

Dill is my favorite herb by far. In Latvia, where I grew up, dill is ever present in summertime meals. Spices and herbs are not widely used in Latvian cuisine, but dill, once in season, is added fresh to almost any dish except dessert. So I always associate it with summer's warm weather, wellness and freshness.I've been seeding dill directly in soil twice a year. First in mid to late March when the top layer is just warm enough. They grow full and produce seeds by late June. In July I collect seed heads for the next year. Another sowing comes late August to early September for fall crop of few-inch tall seedlings (that's now!). Dill sprouts after 7-10 days. In a few weeks one can start pulling out the first seedlings to use in meals.
Fresh dill from the garden is one of my biggest satisfaction factors of owning a garden. It's so nice to step outside and pick a few very aromatic leaves. I add dill to my fresh salads, to smoked salmon sandwiches, tuna salad and use in olive oil + fresh lemon juice + pressed garlic + thyme + dill + salt + ground pepper marinade for seafood or chicken. I also dry some dill on paper towels to use later in winter with some meat dishes.
In addition, I find dill to be a beautiful, almost architectural plant. Just look at it's delicate flower head.

It seems that no many Americans care for dill as much as I do. Is that true and if so, why?

Beet Salad II

Last night I made beet salad for supper. (Did I mention that I LOVE beets? If you are like me, you might enjoy this other beet salad recipe, too.)Mix together shredded roasted beets, cooked beans, finely chopped dill pickles and a dollop of mayonnaise.

Only the beets came from my garden, the rest came in jars from my grocery store. Maybe one day... when I have a fence that keeps away rabbits that eat my beans and when I have time to make my own pickles and mayonnaise... But for now my own beets were reason enough to make this salad in the first place.

Beet Salad

This evening I made salad from beets I picked and roasted* last Sunday.Peel roasted beets, then shred them on cheese grinder. Add crushed roasted unsalted peanuts or cashews (see on the left side in the picture), one small clove of crushed garlic (top right) and a dollop of mayonnaise (lower right). Mix. Ta-dah!

*To roast beets, wrap each in aluminum foil and bake in 400F for about 45 minutes. Cool in room temperature. Cooked beets can be stored in fridge for several days.

P.S. This evening I made my first cup of my own mint tea. Divine! What took me so long???

Harvest July 4

Yesterday I picked some vegetables from my veggie patch: broccoli florets (some still are coming up after I've let the plant start flowering), two jalapeno peppers (saved for now in fridge for later use), four sweet banana peppers and small bunch of Italian parsley for macaroni salad I made yesterday (did not use ham or peas that was called for in the recipe, still turned out great), and the first zucchini that we'll grill tonight.