Delicious, Easy Summer Salad Greens

One thing we can all grow on the Mountain is salad greens, but with the excessive amount of rain over spring and summer I have learnt one very important lesson - drainage!!!

Everything planted in my veggie patch is now mounded up, especially my lettuces, and they are not rotting, as long as they are harvested regularly.

Salads are one of my favourite things to eat, there are so many different leaf varieties and combinations you can put together there is no chance of getting bored!

Over the past few years there has been quite a revolution in the salad market that has taken us so far from the humble iceberg lettuce we know it’s hard to keep up.

We can now choose from coral, mignonettes, butterhead, oak leaf, cos, little gem, curly endive, rocket, mizuna, tatsoi, radicchio, witlof, sorrel, lamb’s ears, baby spinach, and all the cresses- water, curled and mustard.

Every combination works well together, and the bitter and strong peppery ones are toned down with the addition of a dressing.

Dark green and bitter salad leaves are very high in nutrition and are one of the secrets of the healthy Mediterranean diet.

If you are a parent and you want to get your kids eating salad, plant it with them and watch it grow together.

How To Grow Salad Greens
If you are new to gardening or don’t have much space, a good place to start is by growing salad greens.

Salad greens like mesculin and rocket are some of the easiest things to grow – you can even produce good results in a tub.

Choose a moist sunny spot; add compost or organic nitrogenous fertiliser if needed, and keep regularly watered, using a little seaweed fertiliser now and then to keep the soil nutrients up.

Sprinkle the whole packet of seeds generously over an area about a metre square to produce a thick carpet of tender young salad greens.

After just four to six weeks, depending on how warm it is, you can get your scissors and ‘mow’ your first crop. Don’t pull the plants up from the roots - if you give them a cut about 3cm above the ground you will be able to cut a harvest for the salad bowl every few days, getting four to five cuts (or even more) before they go to seed.

Not a bad investment for a packet of seeds that cost less than $3!

After harvesting all you need to do is have a five minute wash up, it’s really important to wash your salad leaves.

Simply fill your sink with cold water and wash the leaves well, then drain and spin in a salad spinner.

You will end up with lovely healthy leaves that are ready to be dressed. I like to wash and spin dry a whole bunch of mixed leaves and wrap them in a tea towel lined bowl, and cover with another tea towel.

They will keep nicely in the fridge for four days. Keep a selection of your favourite homemade dressings in the fridge and summer salad eating is easy.

 
Something as simple as a bowl of freshest mixed salad greens tossed with a well-balanced dressing is immensely satisfying to consume.

A fresh, green salad is the basis for all kinds of flavour and texture variations.

The trick is not to make them too complicated. The dressing is the key as it is what  brings the elements of the salad together.