A Garden and a Grilled Salad

Well, we did it!

J and I have planted our vegetable garden. Only time will tell how well it turns out, but I will let you all know!

So - onto dinner. I make lots of salad. Sometimes the kids eat it - J likes raw veggies - A only eats fruit and protein. Nary a green vegetable has passed her lips since she was able to fend for herself at the table. She loves all things dairy (as do most kids) and will eat lots and lots on any given day.

I am happy to say that J, while rejecting anything that "looks" like it might have sauce, is pretty open to veggies and fruit (of course). And, both kids love to stand in the kitchen while I am prepping fruit and ask for it as I go! (I cut everything up and put it into containers when I get home - easier this way - and more likely that we will eat it!)

Anyway - back to the salad...

I have been making this for years. IT seems odd to grill lettuce, but let me tell you - it is terrific! The first time I made it for a crowd, they all thought I was crazy. Once they had it - they asked for more - and it is Jay's favorite way to have salad.

Very easy to do - goes with everything - and you can throw in any type of grilled veggie as well.

Basic recipe for grilled salad:

1 head romaine or green lettuce
1 head radicchio
1-2 heads belgian endive
2 tbsp olive oil
kosher salt and pepper to taste

Dressing
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat grill. (You can use an indoor grill pan too...)

2. Cut lettuces lengthwise keeping the stem/core in tact so the lettuce doesn't fall apart. (I usually half the romaine/green lettuce/endive and quarter the radiccio.

3. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper

4. Place lettuces on grill and heat about 2-3 minutes per side. You are looking for some wilting and some nice grill marks. I usually let the radicchio go a bit longer, since it is thicker than the others. It is also nice if there is a bit of charring on the thin ends.

5. Remove from grill. Chop roughly and toss with balsamic vinegar a bit more olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Serve warm!


Tonight I didn't have any endive, but I did have some zucchini, scallions and bell peppers. So I sliced the zucchini lengthwise, cut the bottom of the scallions and quartered the red peppers. Threw those on the grill with the lettuces, chopped everything together - YUM!!!

Have a great week and grill that salad!

Planning to Garden

I have to admit that I have never been all that successful at growing plants indoors.

When we lived in a condo, every year I would go to the garden department and select plants for window boxes. Jay would always ask which plants I was going to sentence to death - and every year I would try like heck to keep them alive. Never worked.

Of course, we did have full southwestern exposure - leading to lots of frying of plants and flowers. The one year I had success, I watered everything once a day. We then went away for 5 days. I came back and yes, all the flowers had died.

But, I always wanted a beautiful garden - especially one for the kitchen - that had great flowers to cut, vegetables to harvest and just a joy to look at!

Since we now have a backyard, I have had much more success in achieving this goal! Last year, J and I selected a bunch of flowers (yellow lilys and some sort of blue something) as well as herbs (of course). I figured we would start small and see how it went. Not only did J love gardening and seeing things grow, but the garden actually grew beautifully!

And, this year, much of what we planted (to my great surprise) has started to come back!

In Chicago, planting before May 15th is generally not suggested since there is a great chance of frost. However, that hasn't stopped J and me from planning our garden! This year I am going all out! We are planting more herbs, some containers for outside that have baby eggplant and cherry tomatoes as well as lettuces for salad, and lots of different kinds of vegetables - chiogga beets, round orange carrots, sugar snap peas, green beans (yellow and green), cucumbers and - for the Fall - pumpkins - the kind that Cinderella's Fairy Godmother made into a carriage! And, we also got some blue morning glories (J's favorite flower) and pink mounding zinnias.

Yes, dear friends, I have gone garden crazy! But, if we are anywhere near the success we achieved last year, it should be a wonderful garden to enjoy through the Fall!

We plan on planting this weekend for Mother's Day - so I will let you know how it goes! And, possibly, post some pictures for everyone to see!