I definitely have the epitome of the garden of plenty this year. Just when I think I have picked all the vegetables that are ready to eat from my garden I get another glimpse of a bright red tomato or a freakishly huge zucchini or a fat little juicy cucumber ready to be picked.
Two out of three vegetables from this salad is from my garden of plenty and I know this will not be the last of it. It also has me thinking ahead to next summer and what I will add to my garden repertoire. The cucumbers are juicy and firm and the cherry tomatoes are sweet and pop when you chew them. Perfect!
We had this salad with Baked White Fish, Kale (from my garden of course) and Eggs but it works well with any main dish or as a simple lunch salad which is what we will have tomorrow.
I have had a vegetable garden many times through out my life. My gardening “career” started in Calgary, Alberta with my mother planting lovely colourful flowers and vegetable gardens. When we moved there neighbours told her she was crazy. “Nothing ever grew in the dead soils of this Calgary suburb!” She proved them wrong with beautiful bleeding hearts, snap dragons, roses and marigolds. The vegetable gardens boasted foot long (well i was only 6 so they seemed long) carrots, luscious strawberries, jewel toned radishes and my most favourite one of all, snap peas. I would hide in the back of the garden and stuff my face with those lovely green peas until I heard my mom come out to pick some for dinner. I learned quickly that I should not clear cut those peas. It did nothing for mom’s mood.
Now a “few” years later I have a garden of plenty of my own. After the 90% success rate I now know what grows well….actually ridiculously well and what does not so next year will be even better! Some thing I have learned…Space out those carrots they need room as do the radishes but not my lovely little chubby cukes. It is best to grow these little fellas on a trellis. Not only will they be easier to see and pick but it will give me more room in the garden as my little gourdes are kind of taking over. Room to grow or not they spread them selves all over. I am now having to trim their vines as they are encroaching on our pool and patio area.
We have had almost 2 weeks of heat advisories which means it is HOT! I have compared our temperatures to that of Mexico and we are easily 5 deg hotter. Considering we can go down to -35 in the dead of winter it always boggles my mind that we can go to 35 degrees and be hotter than a country that never sees snow. With this in mind, who the heck wants to cook? This salad is probably most likely the easiest salad you will have to put together but it is not short on flavour. I would suggest that you make this early in the day to allow the falvours explode. It also gives you a chance to chill by the pool knowing your work is done. Cucumbers is also the one vegetable with the most water content which makes this salad a perfect accompaniment on a stinking hot Southern Ontario Summers’ day.
18.1g net carbs, 5 protein and 4 Weight Watchers points per serving.
