If you missed the excitement of spring planting, give it another chance with cool weather vegetables. There are a number of wonderful salad greens to plant that can grow happiest in cooler temperatures, and although it may take a little time for the seeds to sprout, the idea of a fall garden is a perfect opportunity to get fresh tasting greens that can make you healthy gourmet garden salad recipes.
Cool weather vegetables can start with lettuces, cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli and peas. They do very well in the cool of autumn. Choose Boston, Bibb, Endive, and Romaine lettuces, they are considered on top of the list. Other appealing greens are arugula, chicory, mustard greens, leeks, Swiss chard, tender kohlrabi, and corn salad. If you want root and crop vegetables, the most ideal are radishes, carrots, turnips, and beets. You will never go wrong.
Zesty herbs like chives, chervil, cilantro, thyme, mint and parsley thrive well in a cooler garden. In fact, mint is the most-flourished herb in my backyard. Celery is also best grown during the cooler months so early autumn is perfect. There are other herbs that thrive in cool climates, and provided you have the right position and propagation, you’ll most likely be successful to harvest very young and tender greens for a very healthy gourmet garden salad.
You can also get ideas from salad cookbooks of other green vegetables that are easy to grow. I recommend vegetables that can be grown from small plants instead of seeds. They work well during the cooler weather and needs a shorter growing time. A gourmet salad garden is a lot of fun to grow at home, and since most of them grow upward rather than outward, they don’t take up a lot of space in the garden. This will give you an opportunity to create your own combination of cool weather vegetable recipes that you can easily tweak with your healthy meals throughout the season.
Creating a delicious gourmet garden salad in the fall season is all about natural flavors. A bowl of fresh greens dressed in vinaigrette is the only way to get the best flavors of your freshly-picked cool weather vegetables. Once you get all your cool weather vegetables, follow it with the combination of olive oil, wine or balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper seasonings then your herbs.
Although simplicity in a salad matters a lot, creativity is what you need to make it even more interesting for the fall season. Make a salad entrée that can surprise everyone. Top it with crushed pecans, walnuts, almonds, or any roasted nuts. Add pretty slices of apples, pears, cherries, or bacon, sausages and cheese. Be creative.
You’ll be amazed to see a gourmet garden salad creation that’s more than just a bowl of salad. You’ll be happiest to have grown cool weather vegetables in no time.
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