 How many times have you purchased salad greens, only to have them go “bad” in the refrigerator? (I always imagine them like Wild West gunslingers, with little pistols on their lettuce hips.) They are often so far gone by the time you rediscover them that they are a gooey mess. Not only is that gross but it’s wasteful to buy food that you simply throw away. You might as well be tossing dollar bills into the trash. The solution? Grow a salad a day, the greenhouse way. When you have a greenhouse, you can grow a continuous supply of fresh, nutritious salad greens and never throw any of it away. You can even grow lettuces year-round in cold climates if you have a basic heat source in your greenhouse to maintain a cool temperature. Lettuce and other salad greens leaves get larger as they mature but don’t go “bad.” You just snip off the outer leaves as you need them for your salad. How great is that? Some great varieties for greenhouse growing include leaf lettuces, Bibb lettuces (also called Boston or butter lettuce), and Romaine. Mesclun (literally meaning “mixed”) refers to greens, herbs, and lettuces, with types of leaf lettuce a heavy component; it’s another great type of lettuce that becomes accessible for year-round growing with a greenhouse. But what’s a salad without dressing? It’s just lettuce, that’s what it is! Here’s a quick and easy recipe for an herbed buttermilk dressing. The Dijon mustard adds a great depth of flavor. You can also add some mayonnaise if you want a thicker dressing. Herbed Buttermilk Dressing ½ cup buttermilk (shake it up really well before measuring) ½ cup sour cream or Greek-style yogurt ¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley 3 scallions, white and green parts chopped 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or minced (use 2 cloves if you’re bold) 1 tablespoon lemon juice, preferably freshly squeezed 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, optional ¾ cup good-quality mayonnaise, optional Combine the buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt, parsley, green onion, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a nonmetal bowl. If you like, add the Dijon mustard and the mayonnaise. Whisk until well blended. Then cover and refrigerate for about an hour to let the flavors blend. Yummy! |
