Fresh Homemade Salad

after a recent trip to the garden patch i came home with something new.....mixed lettuce!

i've never grown lettuce before but i have grown herbs successfully so i thought i would give lettuce a try and absolutely LOVE it! like most things, there's no comparison to store bought vs. fresh out of the garden. with fresh lettuce i can actually taste the peppery/spice flavor it should have. honestly, i don't know exactly what types of lettuce/greens are in this mix but i think there's some arugula....which is probably where i'm tasting the peppery-ness. i enjoy a simple homemade vinaigrette with my salads at home. here is a vinaigrette i made today along with a few shots of the cute lettuce.

fresh out of the garden, rinsed and laid out to dry...




starting the vinaigrette





i wish i enjoyed a vinaigrette that's as simple as lemon, oil, salt and pepper....but i have to add a few more thing to really 'spice' it up for my taste. i also like to add a little sweetness to my dressings.

juice of half a lemon
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt
pinch of fresh cracked pepper
a little bit of honey (to taste)
a little bit of honey dijon mustard (to taste..i used about 1/2 tsp)
whisk together and add to the lettuce







i recommend giving this a try yourself. it's so easy! i'm growing my lettuce in a medium sized pot. just keep it watered well and pick often. typically try to pick leaves that are 3 inches or larger (i'm not very good at this). you can save your salad pickings in your frig for a few days after cleaning the leaves and storing in a zip lock bag or container.