We have been hit with a heatwave which is a common complaint for everyone but I am thankful. I like weather that reminds me of the tropics. It also has helped my pathetic little garden get a boost. The kale that I planted from seed got big enough for me to cut some leaves off even though the pests have already made lace out of it, and the romaine that I planted from a plant is huge. I only have two of them so I destroyed one head and I will move on to the next very soon.
The romaine before I destroyed it
The herbs are mostly the chives which I love and a little bit of dill and oregano. My basil is small so I don't pick much of this.
When we decided the other day to have breakfast at the local park which was already afternoon we picked some greens and grabbed some watermelon and cucumber from the store to make a salad. We made the salad at the park and I had a leftover dressing from another day.
I really love melon salads that are savory ever since I have spent so much time in Mexico where I discovered how much I love fruits with lime juice and chili.
For this watermelon salad I simply chopped the melon and cucumber and squeezed lime all over it with pink salt and chilly powder. I chopped the mixed herbs and realized that the ingredient I forgot that was important to me was mint which I had purchased a while back.
The salad is so refreshing that I could just eat this all day every day but watermelon right now seems to be on the pricey side. I regret not putting some in the garden.
It had the kale romaine on the side with the creamy dressing made from cashews, lemon juice, white balsamic, olive oil and garlic just blended with salt and pepper.
Topped with sunflower seeds and an extra squeeze of lime it was the perfect breakfast even though it was afternoon.
The next day the folks went to Costco so I quickly ran around to get another salad ready for the picnic that we all were supposed to go on.
The last thing we want to do is hang around with Marc's parents who bore us to absolute frustration. We have to fight to keep from exploding while his father talks for anywhere up to eight hours without allowing anyone else to get a word in or give an opinion.
They said they would love to have a picnic for father's day so when they were gone I made a lentil rice salad. I knew they wouldn't be eating it but I figured they would bring their own food.
For the lentil salad I cooked basmati rice, brown lentils and after it was cool I mixed it with cucumber and more of garden kale and herbs along with the mint that I forgot to put in the watermelon salad.
The dressing for the salad was around 1/cup olive oil, juice of a lime, 3 cloves garlic,1 teaspoon minced ginger, 1/4 cup white balsamic, 3 tablespoons tahini, salt, pepper and a few sprigs of the herbs from the garden which was mostly chives.
When the day came to go for the picnic nobody was saying anything so we figured they didn't want to go which really irked me because I made the salad for the picnic and now instead of being at a park where we could leave the table to walk the dog or go to the bathroom to break from the boredom, we were stuck hanging out at the house with them. We couldn't leave because it was fathers day.
Anyway we got through it. It was a long shift before they finally went to bed and we could talk to each other. We did enjoy the salad though and were glad it was ready for us to eat without using the kitchen that day.
Thanks for dropping by!