On the first sunny day since our rainy long weekend it seemed right to eat a salad for lunch. It also gave me an excuse to do a garden chore I hadn't quite got around to yet - thinning the beets!

My favourite thing to do when growing root veggies with edible greens is to purposefully plant them crowded. Like super dense. I should have taken a photo. Actually what I did was drop entire seed packets (in this case: radishes, beets, and some spinach) in a 3'x3' garden bed, rake them around, and cover with dirt. Now that they are grown up a bit I am forced to thin them. Normally I feel a bit sad thinning out my plants, but in this case I am excited because it's almost like getting a bonus crop. Today I threw them in a gorgeous salad. Tomorrow I might wilt some in scrambled eggs.

These radishes were getting on the larger side so I would likely sauté them or throw them in soup.

So many delicious options for something that would have otherwise been thrown in the compost heap (not that composting is ever a bad thing)!

Now about that beautiful salad. I threw my beet greens in there, along with some lettuce from the Kamloops Farmer's Market. Some walnuts, candied salmon from Haida Wild, and a boiled duck egg from a neighbor went on top. Here's my basic salad dressing recipe:

HOW TO MAKE THIS

Combine roughly equal amounts of oil and some sort of acid (vinegar, lemon juice), in a bowl and whisk until emulsified. For this salad I used olive oil and chive blossom vinegar (chive blossoms infused in white wine vinegar).
Add a blob of jam or jelly until you think it tastes right. I used redcurrant jelly this time.
Add any other flavours you think might be good! I taste and see what I think it needs. You might want to add mustard or some fresh chopped herbs!