Checkerboard Salad

It’s been a crazy and fun-filled week. I’ve been working at a communal garden in Minneapolis and this year the garden is on the Learning Garden Tour so we’ve been working extra mornings to weed and get things looking spiffy for the event tomorrow. I’ve also been working in my own garden - weeding, watering, and pruning - I’m not sure if I’ll get the dirt under my fingernails out anytime soon. 

We’ve been enjoying kale, swiss chard, and turnip greens in our salads and the zucchini and patty pan squash are starting to ripen. I’ve noticed tiny green beans forming and the tomatoes are starting to produce fruit - still green but I expect we’ll get some toward the end of the month. The eggplant is disappointing - they just glare at me; they don’t grow, they don’t die, they just stare - not sure what I did to piss them off or how to fix the problem.

We had Dan’s sister and brother-in-law over for dinner tonight and you know me - let’s try something new cuz -why not? We grilled a large plate of veggies; sweet potatoes, peppers, onions, asparagus, zucchini, and patty pan squash from the garden. I topped it with a chimichurri sauce (all herbs from the garden) and it got good reviews. 

In lieu of a traditional green salad, I made a checkerboard salad; a little feta, a little watermelon, and a little cucumber; topped with good quality olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and thinly sliced basil and mint - it was visually beautiful and delicious, and not as complicated as one might think.

Ingredients:

1 block of sheep’s feta

1 seedless cucumber

watermelon 

3 - 4 basil leaves -thinly sliced

High-quality olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

Chop feta, watermelon, and cucumber into 1-inch cubes. Arrange on a plate, alternating cheese, melon, and cucumber. Drizzle w olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

Finely chop basil and spread it on the salad - serve!

Thanks for stopping by!