My New Favorite Salad

Babble asked their Top Mom Food Bloggers for a recipe a few months ago and I sent in this Smoked Salmon, Endive, & Grapefruit Salad with Dill as I was infatuated with it at the time.

Turns out it's still a favorite and I've been keeping radishes, dill and lemons on hand just so I can satiate my cravings as often as needed. Half the time I leave out the smoked salmon and grapefruit, and go with crunchier vegetables such as celery, fennel and the aforementioned, radishes.

Top with a few Quick Pickled Red Onions and you have yourself a new favorite salad. Promise.


Its delicate spring colors will entice you, while its vibrant flavors win you for keeps. Perfect for brunch, a light lunch, or a dinner appetizer, this pretty salad is a great way to stretch smoked salmon and make raw vegetables the star of the meal.

Head over to Babble Food for the Smoked Salmon, Endive, & Grapefruit Salad recipe.

Grilled Peach & Haloumi Salad with Arugula

Danny and I enjoyed this salad al fresco for lunch; the fragrance of grilled peaches wafted up from our plates and we clinked our glasses in a toast to summer and the quiet of our leafy backyard.

It was great to travel to Maine last month, but there's no place like home - especially if these salads keep coming and the sun stays out...

This is another easy summer grilling idea from Sobeys! (here was the first)

Well, they suggested the delightful combination of sweet peaches and salty haloumi, I added in the peppery arugula to round out this pretty salad. The result is a delightful trio of favors, brought together by a light, but potent, lemon and olive oil vinaigrette.


It's a super salad, and with Ontario peaches making their way into stores and markets here in Quebec, there's no better time to try this dish.

Grilled Peach & Haloumi Salad with Arugula

• 1 pkg (250g) Le Bedouin Haloumi, drained, patted dry and sliced in 5-6 slices
• 4 Compliments Peaches, washed, pitted & quartered
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Compliments honey
• 1 Tablespoon Compliments fresh thyme
• 100 g organic baby arugula
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat grill while you whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, honey and fresh thyme in a bowl.


2. Toss peach segments in the vinaigrette and place on grill. Grill both peaches and haloumi for about five minutes, rotating them as needed, until they show lovely grill marks and both have softened.

3. Toss arugula with remaining vinaigrette and arrange on four plates or a serving platter.

4. Arrange grilled peaches on bed of arugula and top with haloumi. Serve warm.


*Disclaimer: So, yep, the folks at Sobeys sent me a gift card and I went shopping for ingredients! Everything to make this meal was purchased at my local IGA, including the Complements products.

You can find plenty more inspiration for summer meals on their website.

Grilled Portabello & Radicchio Bruschetta with Chevre

When it comes to grilling, I will willingly admit I am not the queen of the barbecue.

Perhaps it's because I never made it all the way down the line to the grill when I worked in professional kitchens. I always got hung up on the fish station, just past the hot entrees. Roasted lobster tails, delicate quail breasts and juicy raw scallops all fell under my knife, but I never got to hear the sizzle of the grill as it marked slab after slab of red meat.


Then we lived in a downtown apartment for several years. There's not much room on a tiny Plateau balcony for a barbecue, especially with all the herbs I grew. Again, no grill experience for this girl.

Eventually I found myself in semi-suburbia, with two kids, my trusty tongs from the old restaurant days, and -uh oh!- a grill.

Now, thanks to inspiration from the kind folks at Sobeys, who sent me a grocery gift card and practically propelled me in the direction my barbecue, I'm bringing you a couple of grilling recipes that I feel confident about.

First up is this bruschetta, my interpretation of a Sobeys recipe for a warm grilled radicchio salad. I can definitely stand behind this bruschetta, with it's warm chevre, silky portabello mushrooms, and chewy bread.

Perfect for a warm summer night, all it needs is a glass of red wine to keep it company.

Grilled Portabello & Radicchio Bruschetta with Chevre

Don't be nervous about the bitterness of radicchio. The grilling brings out this green's sweeter side, and the balsamic vinaigrette add the perfect balance.

Serves 4 as a light lunch

• 1 pkg (350g) Compliments Organic Portabello mushrooms*
• 1 medium head radicchio, sliced into 8 wedges
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons Sensations by Complements Aged Balsamic Vinegar of Modena*
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted (or 1 T. capers)
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1 Complements French-Style loaf, cut diagonally into 1-inch slices*
• butter, softened
• 1/4 cup chevre or soft cheese of your choosing

Brush mushrooms and radicchio lightly in olive oil and grill over medium heat until mushroom are soft and radicchio is wilted. Remove from grill and roughly chop.

Transport to a bowl and add the olive oil, balsamic, olives and parsley. Toss together and season with salt and pepper.

Butter bread lightly and grill until slightly charred. Transfer to a pizza pan or heatproof serving platter.

Lower the heat on the grill.


Mound radicchio & portabello mixture on top of grilled bread and dot with chevre.

Place pan with bruschettas back on the grill and lower the lid of the barbeque. Turn off grill and allow the cheese to soften and the entire bruschetta to warm.

Pour wine, serve bruschetta and enjoy!

*Disclaimer: So, yep, the folks at Sobeys sent me a gift card and I went shopping for ingredients! Everything to make this meal was purchased at my local IGA, including the Complements products.

You can find plenty more inspiration for summer meals on their website.

Thai Vegetable Salad and Back to Routine

Our home is now quiet again, and seems a little bit larger than it did before we hosted my family reunion for nearly two weeks. We had such a wonderful time and the days flew by in a stream of good great food, fantastic wine, perfect weather, laughs, adventures and about 10,000 photos.

Oh my, did we have a lot of cameras going.

Here's one of the photos:


All of us! Love those people!

I'm not even going to attempt to recap everything we ate and cooked up together, nor the adventures and escapades we got up to, for they were all epic.

"Epic" was the word of the reunion, from the production of getting the entire gang pictured above to the heart of the Montreal International Jazz Festival for a live Brian Setzer concert (with oh, about 150,000 other people), to each meal we sat down to, squeezing all 17 of us around two tables pushed together (oval tables- how awkward is that).

Epic. In the very best of ways.


The best part of sharing your kitchen with others is the great recipes they bring and new suggestions that get you out of any cooking rut you may happen to be wedged into.

My sister Haidi tossed up this fresh and vibrant salad for a little party we through for friends. Served alongside sliders, made with our local beef, the salad was filling, satisfying and a nice change-up of flavors from my usual salads.

Add a fresh strawberry sundae to round out that menu, as we did, and you have yourself a pretty fantastic game plan for summer entertaining.


Lime, cilantro, sesame oil, ginger and jalapenos are just a few of the flavors that make this salad a party in itself. They all are combined in a kicking vinaigrette that coats crunchy cabbage (green & red), cucumber peppers and baby spinach.

This lovely recipe comes via Ree of The Pioneer Woman, and is a clone of her Thai Noodle Salad, minus the noodles, obviously. We also left out the bean sprouts, but that was an oversite due to the amount of people and kids running around - or lack of sleep, who knows.


Head to The Pioneer Woman Cooks for the recipe - and a whole lot of 'how-to' photos. Holy Smokes!

Try her version, or leave out the noodles and bean spouts and make our veggie-lovers special. Enjoy!

Happy Independence Day weekend to my friends to the south! If you're stuck for a cool salad idea for your backyard barbecues, I highly recommend this salad for a change of pace.

The Beef Chronicles: Cumin-Scented Kebabs & Best Broccoli Slaw

For a year now, I've been getting the wrong magazine subscription. Wowed by her Christmas cookie issues, I thought I wanted to receive Martha Stewart Living, but my husband knew better and ordered Gourmet as well, both Christmas gifts. For a while they competed for space in my mailbox and for attention on my coffee table, but it wasn't long before I was completely seduced by the recipes and articles in Gourmet, and read each issue cover to cover before glancing at MSL. It didn't help that MSL seemed to have less and less food articles and focused more and more on fashion. Sorry, but I just don't want to read eight pages of summer jacket requirements--I don't care that much about their versatility or how a good jacket is 'the ultimate team player'. (April-'09) Kudos to Martha for using her own staff to model the blazers and the like, but unfortunately I won't be renewing my subscription.

That being said, did you read the August '09 issue of Gourmet?? Cumin-Scented Beef Kebabs, Garlic-Oregano Grilled Pita, Corn-on-the-Cob with Mint and Feta, Ice Cream Sandwiches with Blueberry Swirl....The mag is chock-full of recipes, each one begging to be made this instant. Everything about the 'Freewheeling' feast appealed to me (p.62) and became the inspiration behind a recent casual BBQ in honour of my birthday.


Yes, I cooked for my own birthday. Get over it!
Does NO ONE know me by now? Friends and family were incredulous that I wanted to cook a meal for them and 'work' on my birthday. Don't they know by now that I truly DO love to cook?

Perhaps they didn't understand my terms:

"An afternoon of distraction-free cooking, with no children underfoot and no clean-up required by me."

I believe that was what the official contract read.
OK, so there was no such contract, but for the first time ever, I employed a 'Mother's Helper', which is about as close as I'll ever get to a nanny! My neighbor's teenage daughter brought the boys to the park, then bathed them and put them down for naps while I zipped around my kitchen in fifth gear. Then I enlisted her to shuck 24 ears of corn and skewer two dozen kebabs, while I freshened up before our guests arrived.

The recipes from Gourmet are so easy to follow and the meal came together with no hitches. If only the weather was so manageable. It poured rain at the beginning of the evening - just as I was out barbecuing some lamb 'popsicles' - and thoroughly soaked me. The twenty or so guests took shelter in my kitchen and munched Greek meze while I panicked over how I was going to feed (and fit) everyone in our cozy bungalow. Fortunately the rain tapered off enough to allow us to move outdoors for the meal, and everyone had the luxury of a little elbow room after all.

Our beef stole the spotlight dressed as Cumin-Scented Beef Kebabs, tender chunked sirloin that had been marinated in garlic, coriander, cumin and loads of fresh oregano. The skewers were sandwiched between grilled pita bread that had been bathed in a pungent garlic and oregano infused olive oil and the whole thing dressed with homegrown tomatoes and slathered with Peter's Tzatziki. Several variations of Greek Salad were the colorful accompaniments, along with my Current Obsession Number 1: Corn-on-the-Cob with Mint & Feta, and Current Obsession Number 2: Broccoli Slaw --the recipe for the slaw is given at the end of the post.

And for dessert...my sister brought a killer Carrot Cake (I do draw the line at making my own cake. Thanks, Miranda!) and our fingers got sticky with baklava from Montreal's own Patisserie Mahrouse. It felt a bit weird planning a party with no sweets, so a few days before I churned a batch of vanilla ice cream and made my own version of Gourmet's Ice Cream Sandwiches. Between thin layers of blondies (like a brownie, but no chocolate) I spread vanilla ice cream and swirled in a chunky blueberry jam. Delish! Of course they were consumed before I could get a photo. It didn't even cross my mind to photograph them--I was too busy eating as many as I could before they melted.

As usual, I was flying around the kitchen with an 18-month-old permanently attached to my leg--so there was no way I could snap as many photos as I would have liked. I handed my camera off to my brother-in-law at some point, and he snapped a few for this post.


This is a great menu for a big gang when you want to BBQ, but perhaps have had your fill of burgers for the season. Do try these recipes; this is food that gives maximum flavour for minimal effort.

Cumin-Scented Beef Kebabs
Recipe courtesy of the lovely Gourmet Magazine

1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 pounds sirloin flap steak or flatiron steak, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

Equipment: 12 (12-inch) skewers, soaked in water 30 minutes if wooden

Stir together oil, oregano, garlic, spices, and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl, then toss with beef. Marinate, chilled, at least 2 hours.

Prepare grill for direct-heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal (high heat for gas); Thread about 4 pieces of beef onto each skewer, leaving small spaces between pieces, then transfer to a tray.
Oil grill rack, then grill beef, covered only if using a gas grill, turning, until browned but still pink inside, 4 to 5 minutes. Serve with Garlic-Oregano Grilled Pita (recipe below) and fresh Tzatziki.

Beef can be marinated up to 8 hours
Serves 6


This is my favorite salad this summer and I've made it so many times! It's great to bring to a potluck or just for eating all by your lonesome for a healthy--and crunchy--lunch. You can't get much easier than four ingredients and a dressing! Don't forget to toast the almonds--they really make the salad. Oh, and I once used golden raisins instead of dried cranberries and they were fabulous, too.

Broccoli Slaw

Recipe slightly adapted from the original version given to us from that blogging queen of slaw, Smitten Kitchen
Makes about six cups of slaw

2 heads of broccoli
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds, toasted
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

Buttermilk Dressing

1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot

Trim broccoli and cut it into large chunks. From here, you can either feed it through your food processor’s slicing blade, use a mandoline to cut it into thin slices, or simply hand chop it into smaller pieces. I used both the stem and the flowerets, but you can just use the tops.

Toss the sliced broccoli with the almonds, cranberries and red onion in a large bowl. Meanwhile, whisk the dressing ingredients in a smaller one, with a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Pour the dressing over the broccoli (if you’ve skipped the stems, you might not want it all; I otherwise found this to be the perfect amount) and toss it well.
Season well with salt and pepper to taste. Should keep up to a week in the fridge.


Garlic-Oregano Grilled Pita Bread
Also from Gourmet Magazine August 2009

3 tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashes
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano
2 pocketless pita bread rounds
kosher salt to taste

Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Cook garlic, turning once until pale golden. This took a few minutes. Discard garlic and remove skillet from heat, then stir in oregano.
Preheat grill. Oil grill rack. grill pitas, 3 at a time, turning once, until grill marks appear. Remove from grill and brush both sides with garlic-oregano oil. I had a friend stand by, brandishing a silicone brush, to do this part while I continued grilling. Sprinkle with kosher salt and serve warm. May be cut into wedges.


Got Beef?

The Beef Chronicles: an introduction

TBC: Rib Steak au Buerre Rouge

TBC:T-Bone Goes Camping

The Beef Chronicles: T-Bone Goes Camping & Laptop Tomato Salad

Curious about the Beef Chronicles? Read the intro to the series here.

They say food tastes better when you are camping. Perhaps it's the smoke from the open fire, perhaps the fresh air that stimulates the appetite, at any rate I chose T-Bone steaks for our recent camping supper, hoping that perhaps Mother Nature would help inject some excitement into this otherwise boring cut.

Yowsers.

Everything about the family-style dinner was absolutely delicious, from the potatoes that were baked in the campfire ashes to the sweet summer corn, but when I think back to that steak, the words 'best ever' come to mind.

Earlier in the afternoon, while the gang of us hit the beach, the T-Bone marinated ever so simply in olive oil, cracked black pepper, crushed garlic, and fresh rosemary--all ingredients I 'happened' to have on hand on our two-night camping trip. Later it was quickly seared on a portable grill and the result was fork-tender, flavorful steak.



This homegrown beef has got it going on.
This is my favorite marinade for meats of all kinds and it's approximately:

1/4 cup olive oil
four garlic cloves, a cast iron pan works well for crushing them when you're camping
generous handful of rosemary (or thyme, oregano, or sage)
plenty of cracked black pepper

Usually I'll add a squeeze of lemon, especially with poultry, and the herbs can be switched up for whatever suits your fancy. I season the steaks with salt just before grilling.



Cherry tomatoes and green beans, both from my potager, were sautéed up for a colourful side, while this juicy tomato salad was prepared on my lap while sitting around the campfire.



Tools? A bowl and a Swiss Army knife. I had fresh yellow and red tomatoes from my garden, which I carved up and let drop into a bowl to mix in their own juices. Next I cut up half a red onion (in the same way you would carve an apple and eat it slice by slice) and let that fall into the bowl as well. I tore up a generous handful of fresh herbs -oregano, basil and thyme-, drizzled olive oil over everything, and tossed the salad together with salt and pepper. Voilà, summer in a bowl.



After dinner I got to work on the S'mores, cranking them out three at a time to satiate the needs of the little campers. For the record, open faced is the only way to go, or else the cracker/chocolate ratio was way off. I like having a warm log to toast the graham crackers and warm the chocolate, while I brown the marshmallows. Perfection!


Alright, so far the Beef Chronicles have been pretty tame, I'll be the first to admit; however, it's been like 35 degrees all week around here and cooking is a chore in that heat. The Beef Bourguignon is just going to have to wait until the cool fall weather.
It's going to be fabulous paired with my ripening squash.


Hey! Tomorrow is my birthday! We're celebrating on the weekend, but tomorrow I'm going to go see the much talked about Julie & Julia with my sister. Maybe they'll cook some beef in the movie and I'll get inspired!



Previously in The Beef Chronicles: Rib Steak with Buerre Rouge and Corn with Feta-Mint Butter

Grilled Avocado & Smoky Corn Salad and Our Dinner with Julie & Cheryl

Meeting Calgary food bloggers Cheryl and Julie didn't go exactly to plan, but isn't that usually the case when you are looking forward to something?

On the day of the appointed dinner date we drove into Calgary from Jasper, Alberta. It was our second day of driving, meaning that clothes were rumpled, faces and hands were sticky and everyone was a little out of sorts. Jasper to Calgary is an easy 4 hour drive, but a breakfast stop at Moraine Lake stretched the journey to nearly 6. Making this drive without seeing some of the best scenery in North America is just silly and it was worth the detour.


We pulled into Calgary around lunchtime, but it wasn't until we were on the doorstep of another friends' home (coincidentally our hosts for the weekend and away on vacation themselves), did we discover that their neighbor had left us the wrong key and our access was denied. That meant no naps for the boys, no much-needed cup of tea for me, no fresh sundress for dinner--just packing everyone back into their car seats and freshening up in the car wash bathroom. It didn't help that said neighbor was on a cruise and unreachable; we were pretty much stuck until our friends returned from New Brunswick that evening and opened up their place for us.
Of course, by that time we were saying our 'Hellos' to Cheryl, Julie and their families, where the TGIF celebrations were already in full swing.


I immediately felt at home in Cheryl's comfortable home; gorgeous splashes of color on the walls and exquisite handmade quilts draped luxuriously over the furniture gave the place such a warmth, it would thaw the most timid of visitors. I soon forgot about my frustrating afternoon, especially after a few (OK, a lot) of these jicama sticks with chili salt and a glass of bubbly.


Cheryl--actually the entire family--had prepared quite the spread:

Watermelon and Jicama Sticks with Chili Salt
Hubby's Famous Arkison Burgers w/ house ketchup
Grilled Avocado and Corn Salad with Smoky Caesar Dressing

Sour Cream Ice Cream
Cherry Hand Pies

Can I just say for the record that everything was stellar?!! Cheryl outdid herself and created the perfect, relaxed summer BBQ. The kids chowed down on buffalo hot dogs while I assembled the tastiest burger of the summer to date. Of course the presence of a wriggly one-year-old on my lap prevented me from getting any photos of the masterpiece, but Julie has a great shot in her recap of the night. I can't wait to re-create the burgers with our own fresh beef.

The kids...before Noah and Julie's son started a shoving match and Mateo swiped Noah's hot dog

After two days of road food, I couldn't get enough of the avocado and corn salad! It was indeed smoky and the grilled avocado gave it a sensual twist--ideal for a warm sultry night as that one. And those sour cherry hand pies! Killer. Lucky for us, Cheryl gives the recipe here, which you should promptly start prepping for because they were too good.

Julie provides the recipe for Sour Cream Ice Cream and plenty more great photos over at Dinner with Julie. Oh, and here Cheryl describes the evening as a perfect first date. This was one well documented dinner, but what do you expect when 3 food bloggers unite, really?

For the record, I can confirm that Julie does not have an assistant, yet she skillfully manages a career in freelance,TV & radio, plus mothers, cooks and blogs almost daily. Wonder Woman! Also Cheryl somehow fills the roll of full-time mom, food blogger, career woman and expert quilter without the help of a nanny. Did I mention she has a baby and a three-year-old?
One thing they both have--and I should say this because they are our backbone-- are supportive husbands who know how to fix a plate of food that is camera-worthy AND keep the kids fed.
Cheers to the men behind these food blogs!

Romaine, Grilled Avocado and Smoky Corn Salad with Chipotle-Cesar Dressing
adapted from Gourmet

1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ears of corn, shucked
2 firm-ripe 6- to 8-oz avocados, halved and pitted but not peeled
1 head romaine (1 lb), tough outer leaves discarded and head quartered lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1-inch strips

Prepare grill for direct-heat cooking over hot charcoal (high heat for gas);

Put parmesan in a medium bowl and add olive oil in a slow stream, whisking. Whisk in lime juice, garlic, chipotles, and 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper.

Rub vegetable oil on corn and cut sides of avocados, then season with 1/8 tsp each of salt and pepper. Grill avocados, cut sides down, and corn, covered only if using a gas grill, turning corn occasionally, until golden-brown, 3 to 4 minutes.

Peel avocados and thinly slice. Cut corn kernels from cobs. Toss romaine with dressing and serve topped with avocado and corn.

Winter Salad of Russet Apple, Pomegranate and Pecans

After all these sweets my teeth are starting to ache a little. Snow is piled up two feet deep over the garden and I am starting to crave something fresh. A deep rummage in my fridge unveils the ingredients for this ideal winter salad. Bright and pretty, crunchy and juicy, it satisfies that need for something healthy and light amidst all the rich holiday goodies. As a nice bonus, the colors are rather festive too!
(An alternate name could be 'Play-Date Salad' as it is a perfect salad to whip up for those Mama's looking for a light lunch. We sure enjoyed ours.)

Things have been busy here at Under the High Chair:
Extensive baking is still underway, with pretty packages of it being shipped to loved ones in New Mexico and British Columbia. A bake sale fund raiser I organized raised over $500 that will be turned into food baskets for needy family in the neighborhood. After three months of practice, our Christmas cantata gives two performances this weekend and we are looking forward to having that over and done with! (I am trying to remind myself why on earth I agreed to do a solo...) Gifts are slowly being made or purchased and wrapped up prettily. Grocery lists are getting longer and longer as menus are being formed and reworked.
I am thrilled that we have mounds of fluffy white snow and that I can organize a tobogganing party, just like my family hosted every year when I was growing up. Those are some Christmas memories worth repeating. Chili and Cornbread, anyone?

Here's wishing you all an enjoyable and relaxed week-end leading into the last few days before Christmas!

Winter Salad of Russet Apple, Pomegranate, and Pecans

1 russet apple, julienne
1 pomegranate, seeds removed
1 stalk firm celery, julienne
¼ cup pecans, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
1 shallot, julienne
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons grape seed oil
Salt and pepper

In a very small saucepan, bring apple cider vinegar to a boil. Pour over julienne shallots and allow to cool to room temperature. Mix in grape seed oil and set aside.

Reserve about ¼ cup of the pomegranate seeds and crush the rest to extract the juice. Pour off the juice into a wide, shallow bowl and place in microwave. Microwave on high for three minutes, then scrape down sides with a spatula a stir slightly. Juice will be reducing and thickening. Microwave, one minute at a time, checking consistency between each minute until juice is consistency of maple syrup. Cool.

In a bowl, toss together the apple, reserved pomegranate seeds, celery, and shallots and some of the apple cider marinade. Season with salt and pepper and add more vinaigrette if needed. Add pecans, toss and mound onto a plate. Drizzle with pomegranate reduction and serve.

New Lettuce Leaves for Lunch

Fresh Garden Greens with Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette and Cruton Gratiné au Saint Raymond

I love getting out to the garden in the morning. All is quiet, it’s not yet overly hot, and it’s a good way to start out the day…Unless, of course, you have a school two blocks away that is celebrating its last day of school with hoopla and fanfare.

“Mary, please report to the hot dog stand. Marie au Hot-Dog, S’il-vous-plait”.

My early morning reverie was peppered with announcements like these and then the blaring music started. I soon found myself serenaded with some of the worse popular tunes out there and I surrendered, gathered my lettuce for my salad and retreated inside.
Why the heck they have to blast “It’s Raining Men” to a bunch of elementary students is beyond me.
Note to self: home schooling is a viable and attractive option for the future.

My little garden is starting to give the first produce of the season. A little late, granted, but I got a slow start, and tardy or not, I am just grateful to actually have a garden that is producing something. Last years lesson was that plants don’t grow in the ultra sandy soil that is my garden.
This spring, a friend offered me as much three-year-old chicken poo from her now-silent chicken coup as I wanted, and I jumped at the chance. Free poo, now that’s what I call a good friend!
I turned several bags of the manure into my sandy soil along with some of my own compost and the results have been dramatically better than last year.
So we are enjoying baby spinach, lettuce, and herbs and are looking forward to a small harvest in the fall. This recipe features my red oak leaf lettuce, but can be made with any garden greens you have.

Garden Greens with Cruton Gratiné and Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette.

A large bowl of washed salad greens
Several slices of baguette
1 tablespoon olive oil
Cheese of your choice; I used a mild Quebec cheese, Le Saint Raymond from the Portneuf region
Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette (recipe below)
Sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Brush baguette slices with olive oil and place in oven. Bake until crisp and brown, about 12 minutes. Grate or slice some cheese on top and return to oven just until the cheese is melted.
Toss greens with a few tablespoons of vinaigrette and dress on a plate. Top with cheese crouton and a sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over the salad. Serve at once.

Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette

½ garlic clove
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup olive oil

Mince garlic with a chef’s knife, then mash to a paste with salt using the flat side of the knife. Whisk together garlic paste, mustard, vinegar, and pepper, then add oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. Chill until ready to toss with greens.