Salad Night

When the temps are supposed to rise to 96 in Minnesota I get up early and get my garden chores done. I watered, killed a few Asian Beetles (I left their bodies on the ground as a sign of things to come for others who might think defoliating my plants is a good idea), and then watched the bees fly from squash flower to squash flower it was inspiring. Oh, I picked the first Sweet 100 cherry tomato and let Dan eat it because tomatoes are his favorite. 

This week I will most likely pull the garlic and sugar snap peas and plant another round of carrots or beans or chard - not sure yet. In August I will plant some spinach and other cold crops. Speaking of sugar snaps - I’ve been talking to my community garden friends and they are all disappointed with this year's crop - they are not tasty; except mine are. Mine do get some shade and my Master Gardener friends are attributing the bad flavor/texture to the 100-degree days we had a while back but not sure - every year produces different results even if you think you are doing the exact same thing.

I thought about going out to dinner but when I look in the fridge I see 4 zucchini, @1.5 lbs. of sugar snap peas, and a massive amount of greens all that needs to be used before they expire. I was not in favor of turning on the stove or burners for that matter so I defaulted to - Salad Night! Three salads, two plates, and 2 hearty appetites. 

The first salad - Seafood Salad - is not a vegetarian dish but it’s super easy to make. The second - Sugar snap pea and edamame salad is vegetarian and has only 7 ingredients. The last - Dressed greens with blueberries, peaches, and feta - super easy.

Seafood Salad

Ingredients

1 pkg mock crab

2 stalks of celery - chopped

3 scallions - chopped 

fresh dill 

mayo

Instructions:

Finely chop celery and scallions and add them to a bowl. Add shredded mock crab and then chopped dill. Mix all with mayo and add salt and pepper to taste

Sugar Snap Pea and Edamame Salad

Dressing Ingredients:

2 green onions - finely diced

2T olive oil

2T fresh lemon juice

1t - maple syrup

Salt and pepper to taste

Veggies:

@ 1lb sugar snap peas - cleaned and trimmed

10 oz frozen edamame - thawed

Instructions:

Combine dressing ingredients and set aside. Steam edamame and sugar snap peas until crisp-tender. Toss peas with dressing - serve hot or cold. 

Dress Greens with Blueberries, Peaches, and Feta

Ingredients:

Leaf lettuce

Kale

Swiss chard

Collard greens 

1/2 cup blueberries

1 peach - peeled and sliced 

Feta cheese - to taste

Salt 

Pepper

Dressing:

2T - olive oil

1T - balsamic vinegar

1t - maple syrup

Instructions:

Mix dressing ingredients and set aside. Clean, wash and tear greens. Add blueberries, peaches, and crumble feta. Toss with dressing and serve.

After dinner, we headed to Frio Frio a local haunt that serves hand-crafted popsicles (I am sure they call them something else). I had a raspberry hibiscus and Dan had a blueberry & greek yogurt - a nice end to a simple and lovely meal.

Thanks for stopping by!