Friday, May 31, 2013

Green apple salad


" The glory of gardening:  hands in dirt, head in sun, heart with nature.  To nurture a garden is to feed not just only the body, but the soul"-Alfred Austin.
 
I'm back with my blog updates. Too busy with my garden work this season. I'm all excited  to tell you about my new garden. This year I am setting up my vegetable garden.  Victoria day weekend is the biggest day for all the gardeners in Canada to get out of the hibernation after a long winter and dig the yard, loosen the soil and do some planting. That's when the temperatures starts getting warmer and the soil defrosts.  There are lot of  garden centres opened everywhere selling the  plants, soil, compost, garden accessories, etc...  Me and my hub built the retaining walls  this season for the flower beds, vegetable patches and  planted the fruit trees (apple, pear, peach, concord grape)re- potted the indoor plants ..and what not !!   I am also creating a beautiful fairy garden in my backyard for my daughter to sit and enjoy the evenings !!
 I am not going off beat talking about the garden.  Garden and cooking goes hand in hand. The tastiest food comes from the freshest garden produce. Just like in the Advt. of Kashi says..."  You don't have to make the food taste good, nature does it for you.."
 
Here are some of the pics, I would like to share...
gongura seedlings,( katta baji/ sorrel leaves) sprouted in a egg carton.
 
Beans ( chikkudukaya)  - used an empty ice-cream container for sprouts, it worked like a green house.
 
Lilac branches for rooting
 
Here is my favourite - Malle chettu / jasmine plant.
 
Railing planters
 
Vegetable patches and pear tree in the middle.
 
Tomatoes supported with trellis and cage.
 
Apple tree
 
 
Retaining wall - Not the best, but very functional.
 
Ivy - perfectly trained to grow.
 
Thanks for bearing with me.. !!
Now, It's time to share some healthiest and freshest of salads.
Green apple salad
In this salad, I tried to use the fruits and vegetables that are green in colour.


 
Ingredients:
Green apple - washed and diced
Lettuce - washed and chopped or torn with hands
Cucumber - washed and diced
Mozarella cheese - cut in cubes
Dried cranberries - 1 tbsp for color contrast ( you can either add pomogranate)
croutons - 1/4 cup

For dressing:
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Salt and pepper
olive oil

Method:  Mix lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil in a container and pour over lettuce and toss.  Now add rest of the items one by one like layering and keep it in the refrigerator until it is served.

1 comment:

  1. Hi,
    How did you germinate the gongura seeds?

    I tried all methods. paper towel, greenhose(covering small pot with plastic wrap) but mine never germinate.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete