Simple Spring Salad

Yesterday a friend said to me, “It seems okay that spring is a crazy busy time, there is so much beauty and life coming up all around that it makes it bearable”.  I would have to agree. Bustling is the word that comes to mind, all the project planning during winter is ramping up into the physical manifestations of those preparations and you just have to ride the wave and try not to fall off.

That’s when pink blossoms, lilacs, and the almost painfully bright greenery of new buds can save the day.

This greenery is near you or will be coming soon! No peas at our farmer’s market yet but there is local salad mix at our co-op and I picked the mint from the garden. I’ve been busy salvaging the volunteer seedlings in the garden that are popping up in the areas of dropped seeds—mainly dill, cilantro and kale. They seem to self seed fairly well without cross pollinating so I don’t end up with a bizarre hybrid, plus they’re already “hardened off” having sprouted and survived the chill of early spring. I’m an advocate of lazy gardening whenever possible.

So have a simple salad of fresh greens and get outside!

Simple Spring Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes

The Dressing

Whisk together in a bowl:

2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard

2 Tablespoons Champagne or White Wine Vinegar

1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Dash of Honey

Salt and Pepper to taste

In each individual salad bowl:

1+ cup Fresh Spring Greens—-Chard, Kale, Nettles, Fiddleheads, Spinach…

10-12 tiny Mint Leaves

3-4 Fresh Peas, sliced—-Sugar snap, Snow…

1 Tablespoon Dried Fruit, sliced—Apricot, Fig, Plum…

1 Tablespoon Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Drizzle a little dressing on each salad. 

Optional–crumble 1 Tablespoon Chevre Goat Cheese on top of each salad.

“The Earth laughs in flowers.” 

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-Ralph Waldo Emerson