Salad Days

Here is my "What's in Season" column from this past week:

            Sunday was Mother’s Day and salad was supposed to be on the menu.  The family was gathering at my Grandma’s for a potluck dinner.  My grandmother is the amazing mother of ten children and has lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so there was much to celebrate.  Unfortunately, as my aunt stepped out of the car, the head of lettuce she was balancing on top of her other parcels toppled off the stack, rolled down the steep bank next to the driveway, and landed right in the creek.  One of my cousins bravely ran downstream and retrieved the lettuce as it floated by.  The soggy head of lettuce was carried into the kitchen and placed in the sink.  Always the frugal one, I thought I would salvage it, making sure to rinse it thoroughly.  However, as I undid the plastic wrapper and the brown “crick water” poured out, the family quickly came to the consensus that we weren’t going to eat it. 

            It is widely accepted in my family that my Aunt Theresa can make the best salad hands down.  It’s funny how putting together a salad should be a no-brainer, but some people just seem to have a knack for doing it better than the rest of us.  I had brought a big bowl of my fresh spinach to the dinner, so in spite of losing the lettuce to the creek, we should have still had a good salad.  However, I didn’t really take the time to “dress it up” like my aunt would have, so I took the bowl home pretty much as full as when I brought it. 

            Over the next few weeks salad greens will be a staple at the Farmers’ Market.  These will include head lettuce and loose-leaf lettuce, spinach, mustard greens, and asian greens, to name a few.  I encourage everyone to take advantage of them while they are available because the summer heat will all too quickly bring the season to a halt.  Being a true Zanesville native, I love my iceberg/mozzarella salads as much as the next person, but in these early summer days while there is a diverse selection of fresh local greens, I opt to use these in my salad instead.

            Of my aunt’s salads, probably my favorite is her wilted lettuce salad.  This dressing is so yummy—it would be a good way to introduce your family to some of the more unfamiliar “fancy” greens.  In addition to the lettuce, it uses bacon and eggs, both of which can be purchased fresh from our market vendors each week.  The following amounts are all approximate as she does not use a recipe.

Theresa’s Wilted Lettuce Salad

·         1 lb Bacon

·         Vinegar – approx. 2 cups

·         Sugar, brown or white, to taste

·         Hard Boiled Eggs

·         Chopped Onions

·         Salad Greens

Place salad greens in large bowl.  Add chopped onions and sliced hard boiled eggs.  Brown bacon in skillet and drain grease.  Put bacon back in skillet and pour in the vinegar.  Add sugar and simmer for approx. 15 min.  Pour warm dressing over the salad and set the pan over the bowl to wilt the lettuce.  Enjoy! 

My spinach with hard boiled eggs and onions before the dressing.

Wilting the greens after pouring on the dressing.

Finished product.  I don't think I put added enough sugar.  It was good but perhaps the vinegar was a little too strong.  Not quite like Theresa's!