Easy Way to Spruce Up Your Salad

Over the past couple of weeks, as I’ve been making salads with the loads of fresh greens that I get from my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share, I’ve gone foraging into my yard for mint leaves to add to my salad mix.  A couple dozen whole mint leaves tossed into the lettuce mix for a salad for two is about right to give you an occasional and enjoyable kick of flavor without the mintiness overpowering your salad.  Plus, it’s cheap and easy to do, because mint grows darned near everywhere!

8 Responses to “Easy Way to Spruce Up Your Salad”

  1. Adam Fields Says:

    A few slices of grapefruit or peach would go really well with that, too.

  2. Troy Says:

    I doubt that his CSA box will have any grapefruit. Maybe some peaches in a month or so.

    Another good thing to forage for in your yard would be purslane leaves . . . YUMMY in salads!!

  3. jwsharrard Says:

    I’m not familiar with those… though based on the picture I just found, it seems that they may be the item I just got in my CSA box last week that I hadn’t seen before.

    If that’s indeed the case, I can also testify to how common it is, because I just spotted some growing from a crack in the sidewalk yesterday.

  4. Troy Says:

    Yes, that photo is common purslane, AKA a weed, but a delicious succulent that can be found in a wide variety of settings, even sidewalk cracks (although I would shy away from eating those ones due to possible contamination - stick to the ones you might find in your garden or a chem-free yard)!!

    There is cultivated purslane too, and seed catalogs sell different varieties. All taste pretty much the same, and are best eaten raw right off the plant or added to salads.

    Heck, if you even find a bunch of it, it could even be the main ingredient in a salad!!

  5. Martha Says:

    Speaking of mysterious greens, my CSA haul this week included “cinnamon basil.” It’s quite tasty, like sweet basil but with a bit of brightness to it. Given that I am a singularly uncreative cook, the only thing I can think to do with it is chop it up with my other CSA greens for salad. Any other suggestions? Preferably easy and quick since I usually have about 20 minutes between getting home and getting dinner on the table before my family starts to melt down. Thanks

  6. Troy Says:

    You can add cinnamon basil to pasta sauce, or add it to a home-baked pizza near the end of its baking time. It’s also good to add to a veggie stir fry, or make some pesto . . . lots of possibilities for basil.

  7. Adam Fields Says:

    Speaking of CSA, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the merits/value of CSA vs. farmer’s markets. I used to belong to a CSA, but found that the quality, selection, and price were not competitive with just going to the farmer’s market very week.

  8. Erin Says:

    My current favorite salad is spinach or nice mixed greens, with tons of fresh parsley, avacado, red onion, tomatos and lime juice. So gooood.

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