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July 30, 2009 · 3 Comments

Recipe for a Use-What-You-Have Summer Salad

Recipes

My vegetable garden is like a jungle these days, but it’s yielding some wonderful produce, including parts of this delicious two-bean summer salad I made recently. I had some leftover green beans and a tomato from the Northfield Farmers’ Market and a half a Vidalia onion from Just Food Co-op. From my garden, I picked a pile of the delicate yellow climbing bean (French Duet) I planted with seeds from Renee’s Garden, a cucumber, green and purple basil, and parsley.

summer salad

An easy summer salad from what’s available

The summer salad recipe is simple and you can vary it as you’d like. Cut the beans and onion into 2-inch lengths and start some water boiling. Since the green beans were a slightly tougher variety, I put them in first and cooked for 4 minutes; then I added the thin yellow beans for 2 minutes, and the onion for 30 seconds. (I am not a fan of raw onion, but those who are can skip that step.) Drain it all and run cool water over it to stop the cooking. Meanwhile, halve, seed and slice the cucumber, slice the tomato, and chop the herbs. Mix it all together with a generous shake of salt and pepper. For the dressing, I juiced a small lemon (again, from the co-op), added a tablespoon or so of red wine vinegar, and enough olive oil (maybe 1/3rd cup) to pull it together. Mix that up, douse the salad, and enjoy!

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  3. Recipe: Cherry Pie from Homegrown Cherries Earlier this week, the cherries on my ‘Bali’ cherry tree...
« Recipe: Cherry Pie from Homegrown Cherries
How to Identify an Ash Tree »

Trackbacks

  1. My Northern Garden » Blog Archive » Gardens and Gift Certificates says:
    January 18, 2010 at 4:31 pm

    […] I hate to let gift cards or gift certificates sit around too long since it’s so easy to forget about them entirely. So thanks to the generosity of my brother-in-law and his wife, I ordered my first 2010 seeds today using a gift certificate to Renee’s Garden. Last year, I ordered seeds from Renee and was impressed with their quality, particularly her prolific and delicious French Duet beans. […]

  2. How to Grow Green Beans says:
    July 2, 2013 at 5:44 am

    […] For a more in-depth discussion of green beans, University of Minnesota Extension has fact sheet worth exploring. The recipe for the green bean salad is here. […]

  3. How to grow green beans for a great salad | Live Dan 330 says:
    September 7, 2013 at 11:00 am

    […] For a more in-depth discussion of green beans, University of Minnesota Extension has fact sheet worth exploring. The recipe for the green bean salad is here. […]

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I’ve loved this container in the front of our ho I’ve loved this container in the front of our house, but things are looking faded, so it’s time for a refresh. Out went the Persimmon supertunias (love them, but they have done their duty) and a new cuphea I’m testing (great plant.) In go fall celosia in bright yellow and bronze orange garden mum, both from @shopbachmans. I kept the Queen Tut papyrus for its spikey texture. We’re ready for fall! 

#fallcontainer #fallplanting #fallcelosia #gardenmums #mngardener #fallinMinnesota
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They are an acquired taste but I love them, especially in a spicy jam. 

For this recipe, I mixed

2.5 cups of cleaned ground cherries, 
half a cup of water,
1 cup sugar
a few stray strawberries from the fridge,
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a 1-inch piece of ginger
1 tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg

 Boil away until it is thick. Store in the fridge and use as you would any jam. 

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What a fabulous day, touring gardens with garden c What a fabulous day, touring gardens with garden communicators from all over the U.S. and beyond! Minnesota gardens looked good today. Than you, @gardencomm_gci for visiting the Twin Cities!
Ribbit! Saw this beauty enjoying a beautiful garde Ribbit! Saw this beauty enjoying a beautiful garden in Washington County today. #daylily #gardentour #mngarden
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