Garden Wisdom Blog — Salads

From The Book of Kale & Friends by Sharon Hanna and Carol Pope. This fantastic book includes over 130 recipes and covers 14 easy-to-grow super-foods that can be grown in the garden or in patio containers. Minted Kale with Peas and Blue Cheese is one of our stand-by fresh salads, a knock out for parties and potlucks.

Laab Gai is a traditional Thai minced chicken salad with fresh herbs. Thai cooks depend on the tropical herb phak phai (aka Vietnamese coriander or Persicaria odorata), but this recipe relies on a combination of Thai basil, cilantro, and mint. Culantro is another herb that fits perfectly in this recipe. The sharp tasting herbs balance the saltiness of fish sauce, spicy chiles, a sour tang from lime juice, and the savoury nuttiness of toasted rice. In short, this is an amazingly refreshing dish that is packed full of flavours and versatile enough to make use of nearly any seasonal fresh...

Cucumber plants are really productive. Once they get going in summer, you may be hard pressed to find ways to deal with the quantity. This Japanese Cucumber Salad is very simple and quick to make, and it works well at dinner parties, since the servings are small. Serve it as a side pickle or as a palate cleanser between courses. Ingredients: 2 – 3 cucumbers 60mL (¼ cup) seasoned rice vinegar 5mL (1 tsp) sugar 1.25mL (¼ tsp) salt 30mL (2 Tbsp) sesame seeds, toasted Instructions: Peel cucumbers in strips. Slice cucumbers in half lengthwise, scrape out seeds. Thinly slice...

Kohlrabi salad with cilantro and lime is a refreshing and healthy summer salad made with kohlrabi, cilantro, lime, jalapeño and a citrus vinaigrette This tastes good the next day too. Serves 4-6 Ingredients: 2 medium kohlrabi, cut into matchsticks 1 head very thinly sliced fennel 1 tart (not sweet) apple, peeled and cut into chunks 114mL (½ cup) chopped cilantro (one small bunch) 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, chopped very fine 114mL (½ cup) chopped scallion orange zest from one orange lime zest from one lime Citrus Honey Vinaigrette: 57mL (¼ cup) olive oil (or ½ each olive oil and...

The elements of this Fennel and Golden Beet Salad really benefit from the use of a mandoline slicer to achieve very thin, even slices. Both the fennel bulb and beet are sliced this way (on the thinnest setting), but they are raw. A thicker slice would do, but the salad would be much crunchier. This is a salad to be served in small portions, more as an elegant palate cleanser than a vegetable side dish. It combines the delicious pairing of fennel with citrus, but the gold beets add a whole new layer of mild flavour and colour. The dish...