week 2

I completely forgot to say last week, please bring back your baskets week to week. We reuse them.

Anyway, welcome to week two. After pickup last week, we walked the gardens and scratched our heads. Um…. Hmmm…. The chard is just still kinda little. The cucumbers are coming slowly. There’s some berries kinda starting, the lettuce is dying in the heat and I really need to plant more kale.

So that left us with, hmm, beans aren’t quite big enough, potatoes aren’t even flowering yet for new potatoes. We actually started to consider green tomatoes already. Sheesh. Weird year.

So I ran into my seed bin and found some organic lentils and radishes and thought, sprouts!

Seeds are completely amazing. They contain the energy needed to catapult a dormant little cocoon into life with just a little water. When seeds are sprouted, the nutrition content has some of the highest vitamin and mineral count.  And they’re tender and delicious as well.

We sprouted organic lentils. They should be very small in order for best flavor so take these home, rinse them and then put in the fridge and use within the next week or so.

The organic radishes are a bit zestier and are amazing on salads, like the recipe for the week.

So, here’s a little recipe for the lentil sprouts and tender spring veggies in your baskets. If you were lucky enough to get peas (they don’t produce for as much as I plant) then throw those in this salad too or garnish with the edible flowers as well. You can use the same dressing recipe as before or add the middle eastern twist in this one. By week three, you will be a salad dressing making mad chemist, mixing different spices in with your own homemade salad dressing. Let me know what you come up with.

Sprouted Lentil Salad with Super Herbed Yogurt Dressing

Herbed Yogurt Dressing:

1 bunch High Mill Park herbs

1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt or sour cream

1 squeeze fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ teaspoon spicy mustard (optional)

1 teaspoon sugar or honey

Salt & pepper to taste

1.       Prepare dressing by washing and setting out your herbs. Smell each herb to determine which ones would best fit your taste. Fennel smells like black licorice. Lemon balm smells very citrusy and can be overpowering so use sparingly. Mint… well, smells like chewing gum. Thyme smells like an Italian restaurant. And cilantro is the whispy one that smells either fresh or like soap depending on your smelling palate. Use only the herbs that you like out of this bunch and it’s totally up to you on creativity. I threw them all together, with only a pinch of fennel to my taste.

2.       Remove herb leaves from stems, dice fine and whisk together with yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, and mustard.

3.       Cut up a couple of cucumbers or whatever other fresh veggies you have in your basket like radishes, green onions, garlic scapes, peas, beet leaves or thin sliced beet roots.  You could add lettuce if you have it.

4.       Rinse and throw the lentil sprouts with the veggies in a bowl.

5.       Toss dressing on the vegetables and chill for a half an hour to let the flavors meld.  

6.       Swear off all other salad dressings as you enjoy the delicious fresh herbed dressing on your favorite salads.

Send recipe ideas on or other creative ways you’ve used these fresh, early summer vegetables. Enjoy this  beautiful weather… the calm before the 90degree days. ~Janee