I settled into my tiny house several years ago after a lifetime of renting. One of the first things that I did was plant a tree on the front boulevard to grow with us in our new home. The next spring I planted food. I don't have a lot of room but I put big pots along the fenceline and herbs in the ground. By the end of the summer my kitchen was dotted with overflowing bowls of tomatoes and hot peppers, and herbs were hanging everywhere to dry. When my mother commented when visiting on the bounty that I had created, I announced "I am a witch! I have created food!"Her balloon bursting response was "Doesn't that make you a farmer?" But I refused to back down. Growing your own food seemed like sheer wizardry to me. There was dirt, then sheep poop, then seeds, water, water and water and then...... food! I wonder if anyone else knows about this?
My sense of wonder has not diminished and my only regret is that I don't have more land to grow food on. I would love to have patches of squash and zucchini, fruit trees and chickens, but in my little tiny suburban house - I do what I can. My deck has salad greens growing in ice cream containers - easy to harvest the baby greens and the bugs can't get at them. I am not a sprayer so anything the bugs might like goes in a pot. Some things, like the sweet peppers got eaten anyway so I only do hot peppers. Nobody is touching those!
My offering for this month's GYO, hosted by Andrea of Andrea's Kitchen is a two-fer. Mixed baby greens with a creamy chive salad dressing served with toasts slathered in a mixed herb whipped butter. Enjoy!
Creamy Chive Salad Dressing
¼ cup chives
2 tbsp basil
2 tbsp parsley
4 tbsp mayo
5 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1 clove garlic
Puree together in blender, drizzle over mixed greens and garnish with chive blossoms.
Whipped Herb Butter
½ cup packed mixed tender herbs - such as oregano, parsley, chives, basil, thyme and lemon thyme. Use thyme more sparingly as it is strong.
¼ cup softened butter
¼ cup yogurt cheese - (take plain yogurt and strain with a coffee filter overnight in the fridge until it has the consistency of soft goat cheese.)
1 clove garlic, chopped
Pinch of salt
Mix together in mini food processor. Spread on a nice, toasted multi grain bread and serve with salad.
Click here to see the GYO round-up!
