I used to have a community garden at a park
near our apartment--a ten-foot-by-ten-foot plot, set in a row of like-sized
plots, each bordered and separated from the others by a chain-link fence. It
was hot there--the nearby apartment buildings blocked the trade winds--but the mosquitoes,
bumblebees and carpenter bees, white butterflies, and hungry birds that frequented
the garden didn’t seem to mind. My husband did most of the heavy work--adding soil
to what was basically a raised-bed, mixing in EM solution and fish-oil
fertilizer, and patching fence holes. I tended to daily chores--planting,
watering, weeding, and harvesting. Not that there was an awful lot to harvest.
We were able to grow basil, cilantro, Swiss chard, now and then a tomato, rosemary,
dill, broccoli (leaves at any rate; somehow no flowering heads developed), and
lilikoi. Lilikoi--or passion fruit--was our best crop. Its sturdy green vine covered
the fence and fruited wonderfully. For some reason, the birds left the fruit alone.
Every year for several years, we gathered about a hundred lilikois. We ate them
with yogurt; made pies, salad dressings, and ice-cream toppings with them; and froze
what we couldn’t use right away. Aside from the lilikoi, the garden produced
enough herbs and edible leaves (young broccoli leaves are particularly good)
for a number of dinner salads. One
evening I found my husband--not known as a salad lover--leaning over the sink, salad
bowl in his hand, picking out and eating the last leaves. “They’re so good,” he
said, “and we worked so hard to grow them.”
We no longer have the garden, but we recently joined
a community-supported-agriculture group. Our first box came yesterday! It had
no lilikois in it, but there were various leafy greens to eat raw and cooked, a
few Tahitian limes, and a Hayden mango. Those will make wonderful salads too.
The salad given here is one of our favorites.
Any lettuce will do--even a mix of sweet and bitter. The recipe is more a guideline
than anything. I sometimes put a fried egg on top; chicken or seafood (or
breadcrumbs or toasted nuts) would also be good.
For two people, you need a small head of baby
Romaine lettuce; a quarter or half head (depending on the size) of radicchio; two
shallots, minced; one avocado, diced and squirted with lemon or lime; and two
to three tablespoons of grated Parmesan. Wash the salad leaves, roll them in a clean dishcloth, and place them in the refrigerator while you make the
dressing.
Put the minced shallots and diced avocado with
lemon into a wide bowl. Mix together two tablespoons of olive oil, one
tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar, salt and paprika to taste, a dash of Worcestershire
sauce, and a quarter teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Pour the mixture over the
shallots and avocado. Add the chilled salad leaves, sprinkle on the grated
Parmesan, toss well, and serve, with or without the optional egg.
Here are most of the ingredients for the salad:
The avocado and dressing in progress:
The salad ready to toss:
And with an egg on top:
