Salad Days

 

i couldn't resist cutting a few of my irises and chives for a bouquet.

 

with the past few rainy days and mildly warm temps, my lettuce has been going crazy.  in my limited gardening experience i feel like lettuce gives you the biggest bang for the buck.  the seeds are ridiculously cheap, easy to sprout, and once they get going, well you better like eating a lot of salad.  fortunately i do.  there's something wonderful about just going into the yard, picking some leaves, washing them, and tossing them with some oil and vinegar.  now i know home grown lettuce isn't as dramatically different from store bought lettuce as say homegrown tomatoes are.  but there is a sweetness and tenderness to lettuce that has just been picked that i think is missing from store bought lettuce.  

 

 

freshly harvested cilantro

  

chives i started from seed last year.

 

lettuce ready for the salad bowl.

i rarely use store bought dressing unless i'm feeling exceptionally lazy.  lately my favorite dressing has been to mix some good extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a drizzle of pomegranate molasses, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  the pomegranate molasses gives the dressing a tangy sweetness.