Spring has sprung in Maine! We’ve had the windows open during the day and little signs of spring are popping up everywhere. We have a little garden in our backyard that Andrew tends to, he grows some salad greens, hot peppers, cucumbers and a ton of herbs. I thought I would help get the herbs going this year so I planted some basil, sage, thyme, cilantro and parsley. I don’t have good luck with plants, everything I plant or bring home dies. I’m really good with fresh cut flowers though 🙂
I subscribe to FabFitFun and there was a little grow light in my Spring box and it’s working! I planted the basil in my new little LED planter and it’s growing strong. We moved my other struggling seeds under another LED grow light this weekend and are hoping we start to see some action there. Something that you grow yourself just tastes better, whether it be some fresh mint or a crunchy cucumber, the flavors pop! Like the vintage poster that hangs in our home says Grow Your Own, Be Sure! I wish that we had more space in our backyard for Andrew to grow even more veggies but for now I’ll just appreciate the herbs and greens that we can grow.
I always like to use our little garden as inspiration for meals or refreshing beverages. Well, Andrew usually comes up with the beverages but I’m a great taste tester. Below is a salad that I love to whip up with some of the treats from our garden. We usually eat it as part of a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food night, you know I love a theme night! It brings so much freshness to the meal and the it’s super easy to make. I’m not a fan of onions, especially raw onions but I don’t mind them in this salad.
Middle Eastern Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup finely diced cucumber (remove seeds if they are large)
- 1 cup finely diced tomato (see note)
- 3/4 cup finely diced onion
- 1 cup roughly chopped parsley
- 1 cup roughly chopped mint
- 3 tablespoon olive oil, (more or less to taste)
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (more or less to taste)
- salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
Directions
- Chop cucumber in pieces less than 1/2 inch and put in colander.
- Sprinkle about a 1/2 tablespoon of salt over cucumbers and let sit while you chop other ingredients.
- Chop tomatoes in same-size pieces as the cucumbers. (See note)
- Chop onions (Cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions should be cut in same-size pieces.)
- Parsley and mint should be chopped roughly.
- When all ingredients are chopped, combine in mixing bowl.
- Mix in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. (Start with a a smaller amount and add more olive oil and lemon juice until it tastes right to you.)
- Serve immediately.
Note: If you’re not feeding more than 2 people or are having this as a side and will have leftovers use a smaller tomato and add them in at the time that you’re eating. I’ve even just cut up some cocktail tomatoes and added them in. Tomatoes are not meant for the refridgerator, the texture gets weird and mushy.
Do you have a garden? Let me know some of your favorite garden fresh recipes!
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