Salad Extravaganza Day 3

Today was Shea's turn in the kitchen.

In choosing his ingredients he made the ultimate find in the garden!  Our first potato, a Yukon Gold.

And the first garlic of the year.

He presented it on a lovely white round fiesta ware plate. A nice change in my studio.

He created a completely decadent salad. The potatoes were a lovely addition to the tasty butter leaf lettuce. Croutons from homemade bread with a a bit of thyme from the garden. Difficult to say if it was better than SED1. Definitely wins on the decadent scale though! Dressing? Simply balsamic vinegar. Yum.

So which would you select for my photo of the day?

Salad Extravaganza Day 2

Salad Extravaganza Day 1 was such a success, I was a bit intimidated on day 2.

I followed each of my self imposed rules:

Rule 1 - Use up the lettuce from the garden before it bolts.

I chose romaine.

Rule #2 - Add one additional ingredient from the garden.

I chose three. A carrot, a shallot, and a walla walla onion.

Rule #3 - Use one herb from the garden.

I happily chose cilantro. It is the first time I've been able to grow it, and I've tried many, many times!

I made a tasty Cilantro-Lime dressing for the salad. Much tastier than SED1's dressing. I added less water and oil than the recipe called for. Of course, I took the cilantro to my studio before chopping.

I added beans, corn, and peas with a few baked tortilla strips, and dinner was served. After its photo shoot of course!

I bounced a tiny bit of flash off the ceiling to add to the ambient light.

Our critique? Presentation and dressing were definitely better than SED1, but flavor and overall goodness didn't compare. It seems our romaine is a little closer to bolting than the previous night's butter leaf.

Tonight Shea is on deck for SED3. I'm looking forward to seeing what he creates. I'm guessing he chooses oregano for his herb. I think he may even try digging up a new potato!