Thursday, June 4, 2009

Thursdays Garden Meal

Things have been pretty slow going in the garden meal department. With the spinach done the only thing that is readily available at the moment is lettuces. In fact it is almost unbelievable how much lettuce has been harvested, about 5 pounds of mixed lettuce and close to 8 pounds of romaine lettuce. Needless to say we have had to share some and I think I might just be green inside after eating so much lettuce. Today's garden meal was a simply Chicken Cesar, here are some photos:

The Harvest

Here are two of the eight heads of romaine that have been harvested. They all weighed in at around a pound each so they are some hefty lettuce. There is currently 4 heads left in the garden but they are bolting. Not sure if they have gone bitter from it but it certainly would be okay with me if they end up in the compost.

The Meal

No need for a recipe here. It is simply romaine dressed with good ol' kraft dressing, grilled chicken w/ sweet BBQ sauce and topped with fresh cooked bacon & croutons. Anyone have any salad ideas for lettuce left in the garden?

10 comments:

  1. My idea for too much lettuce is to start cooking with it. And then sing that you have too much lettuce! What a blessing. The heartier ones like romaine cook well. Use it in soup and stir fries. The Asians, Italians and many others do! Think of it as a kale or a spinach and cook with it! My 2 cents....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dang, Dan....that's alot of lettuce! I bet you are getting pretty tired of eating it.One more picking, and I'm done until fall.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! That is a lot of lettuce and a lot of money saved.

    The salad looks yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dan, my refrigerator is filled with lettuce and spinach! Like you, I think I'm turning green.

    One salad I usually don't get tired of (until now) is crisp greens, dried cranberries (or diced apples, or Mandarin orange slices) and walnut bits with a sweet raspberry or balsamic vinaigrette, which I mist over the salad with a spray bottle. Mixed greens with cold grilled chicken slices, crisp Chinese noodles and an Asian dressing is good, too. Of course, there is also taco salad. Tonight we had mixed lettuce/spinach, with oil/vinegar/sugar dressing topped with bacon bits.

    ReplyDelete
  5. On the cook and the chef this week (my favourite Aussie cooking show) Maggie finely shopped some lettuce and cooked it with green peas and mint. Looked yummy. We always do lettuce, blood orange (or normal orange) and chorizo salad, that's a winner. Put it in Vietnamese ricepaper rolls too for some crunch.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey Dan.

    OK... I'm drooling over your lettuce! Can I have some?

    It'll be a while before my romaine is ready to harvest.

    Enjoyed reading everyone's suggestions for what to do with it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. how about a mexican style salad with black beans, chick peas, corn, diced tomato, avocado, cilantro, and bell pepper? for the dressing, maybe some olive oil and lime or lemon juice (or vinegar) with cumin and garlic. not only will it taste great, it will be a colorful salad to photograph! (i think i may actually make something like it tonight!)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sorry I missed dinner as Chicken Cesar is one of my favorites! I just harvested the last of our lettuce as well. Last nights salad was lettuce, mandarin orange, almond slivers, sunflower seed, tomato, onion with spicy tomato bacon dressing, .. Tonight we make guacamole salad. Make fresh Guacamole and place on top of bed of lettuce. Few tortilla chips on the side. Yum-o...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't have recipes, but I just stick lettuce in so many things. Anything Mexican can use lettuce. I even put it in Burritos. Ditto for sandwich/wrap type meals. Mostly it just ends up in a plain salad. Today I had soup and salad for lunch. If you want to get creative use the lettuce as a wrap. I've had some really yummy Chinese style chicken dishes that use lettuce leaves to wrap it all up.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for all the suggestions. I have lots more lettuce in the garden so they will come in handy. I think the next salad to try is the mexican/taco salad. Thanks for the idea Granny & Kelli.

    ReplyDelete