Seasonal Ontario Food

This is a classic German salad that's also long been popular here, as well it should be. You get to feel all healthy and virtuous about the spinach and herbs, but there's also mushrooms! And bacon!! And sour cream! Well, I'm using yogurt these days because I can't get a decent sour cream for love or money. Use a full-fat one for best results. I like to add toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds for extra crunch. 

And here we seem to be, in salad season. 

2 to 6 servings
1 hour prep time

Prepare the Salad:
6 to 8 cups baby spinach leaves
8 to 12 small button mushrooms
a good handful of parsley, if available
3 green onions
1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds

Wash the spinach very well in cold water, then pick it over, discarding any tough stems and damaged leaves. Rinse it well again, and dry it thoroughly - salad spinner is a good idea.

Clean, trim, and slice the mushrooms. Wash, dry, and mince the parsley. Wash and trim the green onions, and chop them finely. All of this, along with the sunflower and pumpkin seeds, should go into a salad bowl. You may, if you wish, keep the green onions out and cook them in the dressing instead - it depends on how mild your onions are, and how much you like them (or not) raw. Also, if they are not purchased roasted, you may wish to toast the seeds in a dry skillet for a few minutes over medium heat before they go into the salad bowl.

Make the Dressing:
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
maybe some salt
250 grams (1/2 pound) medium-lean bacon
1/4 cup sour cream OR thick yogurt

Peel and mince the garlic, and put it in a small bowl with the mustard, vinegar, pepper, and sugar. You MAY wish to add some salt, but it will depend very much on how salty your bacon is. Most commercial bacon is way too salty to need more added, but if you are getting good quality bacon a little salt may be beneficial - you will need to use your judgement.

Chop the bacon into pieces a little narrower than the width of the slices. Put them in a medium skillet over medium heat, and cook slowly until they have rendered quite a bit of fat and cooked to being quite crisp throughout.

Peel and dice or grate the carrots and/or parsnip. Heat the butter in the soup pot and add them, along with the bay leaf. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 to 15 minutes, covered, but stirring regularly until softened.

Meanwhile, grind the allspice, pepper, and salt together finely. When the vegetables are ready, add them, along with the barley flour and the minced herbs. Mix in well, and after a minute or so to wilt the herbs, add the stock and the chopped, drained sorrel and spinach. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, then mix in the cream or yogurt, if using. Heat to the edge of simmering, but do not let the soup boil, and serve at once. It can also be served plain and a dollop of yogurt - or sour cream, if you can get any - can be added. Or not; it's fine as-is.

Leeks are so good stuffed, and spinach and feta are so good together and stuffed into leeks. With cheese, of course. So, so good. This is, I suppose, a kind of Spanakopita without the pastry, which is always a good idea for me. In this case I wasn't even thinking about that; just about how much I like leeks and how good they are stuffed.

I go into some detail about how to prepare the leeks, but once you have it down, making stuffed leeks is about the same level of difficulty as making a lasagne, and the dishes take a similar amount of time to do. You could do this into the winter with frozen spinach, which would have to be thawed in advance but would probably cut almost 15 minutes from the prep time.

4 to 6 servings
2 hours - 1 hour prep time


Prepare the Leeks & Spinach:
4 large leeks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
300 grams (10 ounces; 1 1/2 cups) cooked drained spinach

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Wash and trim the roots and green from the leeks, and cut the remainder into 2 equal long pieces. Save any pale green parts that are usable for some other dish.

Boil the leek pieces for 7 to 8 minutes, then plunge them into cold water to cool. Leave the pot of water on the stove as you will use it again. Cut the leek pieces to the middle, longwise, and remove the centres from them - remove the leaves that are too narrow to roll nicely and leave all that are wider. Flatten the sliced leeks out, and use them to create 12 similar rectangles to be rolled.

Wash and pick over the spinach. Reheat your pot of water to boiling and cook it for 1 or 2 minutes, then drain it well. Squeeze to remove as much water as possible, then chop the spinach.

Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Chop the leek leaves removed from the centres of the leeks and cook them gently in it until the butter is absorbed, just a few minutes. Mix this with the chopped spinach in a mixing bowl. This could be done in advance.

Stuff & Bake the Leeks:
2 tablespoons minced fresh OR 2 teaspoons dry dill weed
2 tablespoons minced fresh OR 2 teaspoons dry mint
freshly ground nutmeg, a few scrapes
freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 large eggs
225 grams (1/2 pound) feta cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
100 grams (3 ounces) grated Cheddar cheese

Add the minced or dry herbs, pepper, and nutmeg to the chopped leeks and spinach. Break in the eggs and mix them in. Crumble in the feta and mix.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Use the butter to grease a shallow baking pan into which the stuffed leeks will fit; about a 2 litre/quart dish. Divide the filling into 12 equal portions, and roll 1 portion up in each rectangle of blanched leek leaves. Arrange them in the baking tray in a single layer.

Bake the leeks for 15 minutes at 350°F. Meanwhile, grate the Cheddar. Sprinkle it evenly over the leeks then return them to the oven for another 30 to 40 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

We planted some spinach at the end of July or early in August for use in the fall, and got spotty germination because it was still so hot and dry. However, there was a reasonable amount. Now it's bolting so I did my best to snatch some for use before it is too late. This recipe managed to use up quite a lot. We re-seeded after the first attempt, and with the cool weather and rain we've been having we now have lots more spinach germinating. Hopefully, this can be covered and overwintered for early spring greens.

In the mean time, this was really delicious, in addition to being quick and easy. I did have to cook the chick peas and the ham in advance, but they both went into the Instant Pot (not together) and didn't need much attention.

This is really a full meal by itself; you won't need much more than some bread and butter to keep it company.

4 servings
1 hour prep time, not including cooking the chick peas (or ham)


3 cups cooked chick peas (from 1 cup raw)
8 cups cleaned spinach leaves
1 large onion
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
1 cup diced cooked ham
2 tablespoons olive oil OR mild vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, ground
1-2 teaspoons sweet smoked Spanish paprika
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup ham stock and/or chick pea cooking water

I cooked the chick peas by putting them in a pot with plenty of water to cover, then bringing them to a boil. Then I covered them and turned off the heat, and left them to soak for several hours. Then they were drained, and put into the Instant Pot with fresh water to cover and a teaspoon of salt, and cooked for 9 minutes, then left to release naturally. They could similarly be put back in the original pot with fresh water and salt, and simmered until tender; probably somewhere between 1 and 2 hours. If you wish to use tinned chick peas, this is about 1 1/2 standard 540 ml (19 ounce) tins. Drain them well for use.

Wash and pick over the spinach, discarding any tough stems and damaged leaves. Wash very well, then drain and chop coarsely. Wash and drain well again.

Peel and chop the onion. Peel and mince the garlic. Cut the ham into dice.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook for several minutes, until softened and wilted but not browned. Add the ham and well-drained chick peas, and cook for several minutes, continuing to stir regularly, until the mixture is fairly dry and sizzling. Add the cumin, paprika, salt and pepper, and garlic. Mix in well and cook for just a minute longer, then add the ham stock or cooking water. Add the spinach.

Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, mixing in the spinach until it all well wilted. Simmer until the spinach is done to your liking. Serve at once.





Last year at this time I made Vegetables Sabzi.  

Oh look; more chicken. Had to buy a fairly large package, so there it was. Oh look; more asparagus. It's early June; of course there's asparagus. And lettuce. So it's salad again, is what it is.

This basic little Japanese-inspired salad dressing really went over well. Like a lot of Japanese dishes, it relies on a simple ensemble of not-too-strong flavours that really worked well with the chicken and asparagus. I'll be using it again on other salads quite often, I think. I actually used Kewpie (Japanese) mayonnaise for this, as it's one of the few commercial mayonnaises out there that does not contain any sugar.

I regret to say that our stupid weather this year has been very hard on the lettuce. It all LOOKS absolutely perfect, but it's starting to go bitter already, even though I've been watering it daily in fear of just this outcome. Phooey. 

4 servings
45 minutes prep time


Cook the Chicken & Asparagus
450 grams (1 pound) skinless, boneless chicken pieces
2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
450 grams (1 pound) asparagus

Grill or sauté the chicken with salt and pepper to taste, in the oil, until cooked but not dry; about 4 to 6 minutes per side depending on thickness. I prefer chicken thighs for this, but then I always prefer chicken thighs. Set aside and cool completely once done.

Of course, you could use leftover cooked chicken, including from a purchased rotisserie chicken, if you like and have it.

Wash, trim, and cook the asparagus. Cut it into bite sized pieces, before or after you cook it; I don't care much but tend to think cutting it first is more convenient. It too should be well drained and cooled completely. Both the chicken and asparagus can be prepared up to a day ahead and kept refrigerated until wanted.

Make the Dressing:
1 tablespoon very finely grated fresh ginger
1 to 2 tablespoons miso
2 tablespoons apple cider OR rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Peel the ginger and grate it to a pulp, and put it in a small mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon miso, the vinegar, and sesame oil and mix well. Taste and add a little more miso if you think it needs it - keeping in mind that this both an unfinished dressing and that the finished dressing must be fairly intensely flavoured to provide coverage to the other ingredients - and so it should be fairly strong. I did use 2 tablespoons and was completely happy about it, but in addition to the fluctuations in personal taste, miso can also vary quite a bit in strength so it's worth being a little cautious. You can also add more after the mayonnaise is in; it will be easier to tell if needs it but harder to mix smoothly.

Mix in the mayonnaise until the dressing is smooth.

Make the Salad:
6 cups chopped lettuce OR mix of lettuce, spinach and other salad greens
8 to 12 small red radishes
1 cup peeled and grated celeriac OR chopped celery
1/2 cup whole hazelnuts

Wash, dry, and chop the salad greens. Wash, trim and slice or chop the radishes and celery or celeriac.

Toast the hazelnuts in a dry skillet until browned in spots. Transfer them to a cutting board or plate to cool. Chop them roughly; or I found that bashing them with the base of the vinegar bottle did a good job in breaking them up. A fair bit of the skins will come off and that's all to  the good - discard them.

The chicken pieces should now be cut up into bite-sized strips. 

You can toss everything together in the dressing at this point; I spread out the greens and other raw salad ingredients (minus hazelnuts) in the serving dish, then mixed half the dressing into the chicken and asparagus which were then spread over the salad and sprinkled with hazelnuts. The remaining dressing got passed for more to be added if people wanted. I thought there was a fair bit of dressing but apparently people did want all of it, so this was a bit of a wasted effort, although it probably did look a little nicer than the just-mix-it option. 




Last year at this time I made Greek-Style Pork Loin Medallions.

Our asparagus is actually slowing down a little bit; we spent a week pulling out over a pound of it every day, but it seems to have dropped below that. Cooler temperatures again, coupled with very little rain - not enough, at any rate, to really soak the warm, dried out soil. Still, we are getting some.

The heat seems to have been enough to get the lettuce to size up without making it bitter so the month of Salad, I mean June, has begun. This one was very tasty and if you used a tin of chick peas as quick and easy as any.

I don't often use tomatoes with asparagus, because I feel like they are the vegetables of different seasons and as such have nothing much to say to each other, but I had a few I ordered for putting in sandwiches without thinking that I practically never eat sandwiches anymore, so I tossed one in. I have to say I do think it added good things to the salad, so there. 

2 to 6 servings
45 minutes prep time, NOT including cooking the chick peas


Cook the Chick Peas & Asparagus:
1 cup dry chick peas
1 teaspoon salt
450 grams (1 pound) asparagus

Rinse and pick over the chick peas. Put them in a pot with water to cover well, and bring to a boil. Let boil for a minute, then cover the pot and turn it off. Let the peas soak for several hours.

To cook them, drain them and return them to the pot or Instant-Pot. Add the salt and cover well with water. Simmer them steadily until tender; 1 to 2 hours, stirring regularly in the pot, or cook on high (regular) pressure in the Instant Pot for 12 to 14 minutes. Let the pot de-pressurize for about 1/2 hour before opening. In any case, cool the cooked chick peas completely. You could also avoid all this by using a 540-ml (19 ounce) can of chick peas.

Wash and trim the asparagus. Cut it into small (chick pea sized) pieces, except for the tips which should be left whole. Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil them for 3 to 4 minutes before rinsing them in cold water until completely cool, then draining well. 

Make the Dressing:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh dill weed
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
the juice of 1/2 large lemon

Mix the mayonnaise, mustard, dill, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl. Mix the lemon juice in a bit at a time in order to keep the dressing smooth and lump-free. Add the chick peas and asparagus, and then the other salad ingredients listed below as you prepare them. 

Assemble the Salad:
2 to 3 cups finely torn or chopped fresh lettuce and/or spinach
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 large or 2 medium greenhouse tomatoes
225 grams (1/2 pound) smoked trout

Wash, trim, and chop the lettuce or spinach and drain it very well. Wash, trim, and mince the parsley. Wash, core, and chop the tomato(es).  Remove and discard the skin and any bones from the trout, and flake it into small bite-sized pieces. Add it to the salad and toss well.




Last year at this time I made Sorrel Pakoras.

If you make this with frozen spinach, you can cut off half an hour of prep time. Use about 225 grams (1/2 pound). Actually, I think if you buy it, it comes in 10 ounce packets, which, by the time you have squeezed it out should be about right. You will need to thaw it in advance, of course.

I did use frozen spinach, but our fresh spinach planted out and covered with plastic is finally coming along enough that I could have used it. This has been a ridiculously cold spring! However, the plastic makes a huge difference. We seeded spinach and lettuce in the fall, very little of which came up and survived the winter, but an early replanting was successful.

As for this dish, it is a classic. It's rich and cheesy (especially if you apply the cheese with a heavy hand) enough to be a main dish, but it is often served with steaks. Grilled chicken or fish seems just as appropriate to me, or with the right supporting dishes it could be a vegetarian main dish.

4 to 6 servings
1 hour 15 minutes - 45 minutes prep time


8 to 10 cups packed spinach
1 large onion OR leek
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chicken OR vegetable broth
1 cup whole milk OR light cream
2 tablespoons potato starch OR wheat flour
1 large egg
1 cup grated melty cheese - Cheddar, Friulano, Gouda, brick, etc
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 to 4 tablespoons finely grated dry bread crumbs

Wash the spinach very well, and pick it over of any limp or yellowed leaves and tough stems. Chop it roughly, and steam until wilted. Rinse it in cold water then squeeze it out very thoroughly. Chop it finely. You should have about 1 1/2 to 2 cups when you are done.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 1 1/2 to 2 quart shallow baking pan.

Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and mince the garlic.

Heat the butter in a medium-large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring regularly, until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook gently for another minute or two.

Measure the broth and milk, and mix in the potato starch. (If using flour, sprinkle it over the onions and mix in well, until no white is left.) Mix the stock and milk into the onions, stirring well to keep it smooth. Let it cook for several minutes, until thickened. Stir regularly.

Remove the pan from the heat. Mix in the spinach until it is smoothly distributed throughout the sauce. Beat the egg lightly and mix it in. Mix in 2/3 to 3/4 of the first grated cheese. Transfer the mixture to the baking pan and smooth it out evenly.

Mix the remaining grated cheese with the Parmesan and bread crumbs. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the spinach. Bake at 375°F for about 30 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.




Last year at this time I made Asparagus & Mushroom Salad with Chervil-Chive Dressing.

I've always really loved bean thread and sweet potato noodles, both hot and cold. Here they are part of a light and lively salad with some Japanese flair.

It did have the usual problem with salads; a little of this, and a little of that, and then there was enough to feed an army. This is not a salad that keeps well, either, what with the bean sprouts. If you want to stretch the salad out over a couple of days, just put bean sprouts in the portion you expect to eat. The rest should hold for a day in the fridge.

On the other hand though, Mr Ferdzy performed heroically and in spite of the mounds of salad produced (not all of it shown below) we had very little left. It is the sort of thing you can eat quite a lot of, and still feel okay about yourself.

4 to 6 servings
45 minutes prep time


Make the Salad:
1 medium carrot
2 cups finely shredded cabbage
2 - 3 green onions
1/4 teaspoon salt
200 grams (1/2 pound; 1 bundle) sweet potato starch noodles
8 packed cups raw spinach
2 cups bean sprouts

Peel and grate the carrot. Wash, trim, and finely shred the cabbage. Wash and trim the green onions, then chop them finely. Mix these in a bowl, and sprinkle the salt over them. Massage it in well with your hands until the vegetables are soft. Set them aside for the moment.

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Boil the noodles according to the directions on the packet; probably for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, wash the spinach well and pick it over.  Chop it a bit and lay it in a large colander.

Drain the noodles over the spinach, wilting them thoroughly. Rinse them at once in plenty of cold water, until cool. Drain extremely well, pressing to extract all liquid (especially from the spinach). Chop the noodles and spinach until they are a good texture for your salad, and put them into a mixing bowl.

Rinse the carrot, cabbage, and green onions and drain them very well. Squeeze them to remove as much moisture as possible and mix them into the noodles and spinach. Mix in the washed and drained bean sprouts.

Dress the Salad:
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar OPTIONAL
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons tamari OR soy sauce
freshly ground white OR black pepper to taste
2 - 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Mix the sesame oil, sugar, vinegar, tamari, and pepper, and pour over the salad. Mix well.

Toast the sesame seeds over medium heat in a small, dry skillet until lightly browned. Scrape them out as soon as they are done, onto a plate, to cool. Sprinkle them over the salad just before serving it.





Last year at this time I made Spring Salad with Honey-Yogurt Dressing.

When I first started thinking about this dish, I was not thinking it was particularly Turkish-inspired. More French-inspired, what with the butter and broth, and of course sorrel is used quite a bit in classic French cuisine. However, this braising technique is used a lot in Turkey, with olive oil and water instead of butter and broth. You could certainly use those here, if that is your preference.

At any rate, between deciding to cook these vegetables together (by deciding, I mean noticing that they were all there in the garden at the moment) and executing the plan, I also decided to add Turkish yogurt sauce to it. I can't say I regret it; it went with the vegetables very well. I probably used closer to 3 tablespoons of butter, and with the yogurt sauce the results were really quite rich. Extremely good, it has to be said, but if you go with the yogurt sauce you may wish to be sure that other items served with this are bit more on the plain side.

And finally: IT'S SORREL TIME!  I guess that means it's spring!?

4 servings
45 minutes prep time


Optional Yogurt Sauce:
1/2 cup thick yogurt
1 small clove of garlic
a pinch of salt

Measure out the yogurt and add the garlic, peeled and finely minced, and the salt. Let sit for 20 minutes to half an hour before serving - in other words, if you plan to have it, make it first. 
 
Make the Dish:
2 cups lightly packed chopped raw spinach
2 cups lightly packed chopped raw sorrel
450 grams (1 pound) carrots
2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 to 1 1/2 cup unsalted chicken or vegetable broth
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 to 3 tablespoon finely minced fresh chives

Wash and pick over the spinach and sorrel, removing any tough stems and damaged or discoloured leaves. Chop them both reasonably well and drain thoroughly.

Wash, peel, trim, and slice the carrots. Put them in a large shallow pan (skillet) with the butter and half a cup of the broth. Bring to a boil then simmer steadily until the carrots are done to your liking, adding more broth as needed.

When the carrots are just about done and there is just enough broth left to form a coating on them with the butter, add the sorrel and spinach. Cook for several minutes more, turning the sorrel and spinach into the carrots as they wilt. When they are all well wilted into the carrots (cooked, that is), either transfer the vegetables to a serving dish and sprinkle with the chives, or sprinkle the chives over them and serve them from the pan.




Last year at this time I made Buffalo Chicken Burgers.

The amount of fresh spinach you need to have to end up with a fairly piddling amount of cooked spinach is amazing. I did use frozen spinach here, because there is still a fair bit in our freezer from last year, but I know very well that each packet of frozen spinach takes about 8 medium-packed cups of washed and trimmed spinach, having washed and trimmed it by the bushel. And also, while we have spinach in the garden and there are SOME leaves large enough to use, it needs to do a fair bit of growing yet. Goodness, this has been a slooooow spring and I am finding it harder to take than usual; wonder why?

I made this a couple of times to make sure I had the ideal quantity of flour; but the trouble is the exact quantity will depend on how moist your spinach is. A dough stiff enough to want to form a ball will give firmer spaetzle, but it will also be a lot harder to push through the spaetzle maker. The second time I made them I used the higher amount of flour, and could only get 2/3 of the dough through the spaetzle maker before my arm gave out. I made the rest of the dough into gnocchi after dinner and fried them up for breakfast. If you want gnocchi, that's the way to do it. For spaetzle, it's better to keep the dough softer. 

With some vegetables and cheese in moderate quantities this will be a complete meal for two. If you are serving it as a more definite side dish, with a piece of fish, poultry, or other meat, it will certainly go further.

Preparing the spinach is by far the most tedious and time-consuming part of making this dish; the actual cooking takes minutes once the water comes to a boil. Do not make the batter too far in advance of the cooking time, as it will get stiff and even harder to work.

2 to 6 servings
30 minutes to prepare spinach
15 minutes to make spaetzle


170 grams (6 ounces) cooked spinach
1/3 cup water
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
a few scrapes of nutmeg
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups whole spelt flour

Wash, trim and pick over, drain, and steam the spinach. You will need about 8 cups fresh to start, and you will end up, once it has been squeezed fairly dry and chopped, about 1/2 cup. You can certainly start with frozen spinach which has been thawed, or you could prepare your spinach in advance; keep it refrigerated until needed.

At any rate, once your spinach is cooked, squeeze as much liquid out of it as you can, chop, and measure it. Put it in blender (preferred) or food processor. Add the water, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and process it until it is as smooth as you can get it. Scrape down the sides as needed. When it is a very smooth purée, scrape it into a mixing bowl.

I broke the egg into the blender, and whizzed it on low for about 30 seconds to help get all the spinach out and into the mixing bowl; it worked reasonably well in conjunction with a good silicone spatula. At any rate, mix the egg into the spinach. Then mix in the flour to make a smooth, pliable, if somewhat sticky dough. It should be on the stiff side of pliable, so add a bit more flour if necessary. Keep in mind if you are not cooking it right away, it will continue to stiffen slightly as it sits.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Press the batter into the boiling water using a spaetzle maker or a strainer with moderately large holes. That silicone spatula is likely to still be very handy here. Give them a gentle stir once the batter is all in, and when the little noodles float and seem firm - a matter of only a couple minutes, unless those holes were very large - drain them well.

Toss them with butter or good oil. Serve them with cheese, or vegetables such as peas tossed in with them, or with grilled or roasted meats.





Last year at this time I made Rolled Omelette with Spring Herbs & Cheese.

Saaaaaalad! Our late summer-planted greens are doing nicely, and we finally got a few blackberries. Normally we are awash in them; this year, hardly any. What a terrible year for so many things. Still, this was a lovely little salad. Blackberries are not really my favourite berry but they are usually so reliable and productive. They really go well with basil too; I liked them a lot in this salad. It has a clove-like quality about it, and I've often thought that cloves were made to go with blackberries somehow. Anyway, now I hope to make this a couple of times more as long as the basil and blackberries hold out.

It is a well-known fact that I love fruit, nuts, and cheese in salads. No cheese here, but I've seen a number of versions of this salad that call for feta. It would certainly go very well. I served this as a side dish with some salmon so I didn't add cheese. Gotta exercise some restraint, some time.

4 servings
30 minutes prep time



Make the Dressing:
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
the juice of 1/2 large lemon
3 tablespoons walnut or hazelnut oil

Put the mustard and honey in a small mixing bowl or jam jar and whisk in the salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Whisk in the nut oil.

Make the Salad:
2 cups mixed lettuce
2 cups baby spinach
2 tablespoons finely shredded basil leaves
2 tablespoons finely shredded mint leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
1 cup blackberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or hazelnuts

Wash, dry well, and tear up the lettuce and spinach into bite sized pieces. Wash, dry, and chop the herbs. Wash the blackberries and drain them well. Chop the nuts.

Toss the blackberries and nuts into the lettuce, spinach and herbs. Drizzle with the dressing and toss the salad again. Serve at once.




Last year at this time I made Peach Custard Pie with Coconut Crumble Topping.