Garden Salad

There is a show on Hulu that Padma Lakshmi started about food and culture of different immigrant groups in the US called Taste the Nation. I have only watched the first 4 episodes (the 4th is my favorite so far about the Gullah Geechee people in South Carolina) and it is really good, highlighting people growing/serving their own cultural food. And it is fun to see Padma in a more relaxed way than Top Chef, and meet her mom and daughter in episode 2!

The show continues to inspire a way of living to cook from the land. The Gullah way of making gumbo includes using okra as the thickening agent (rather than a roux), and last week I read that Chinese people use daylilies to thicken stew and soups. I wonder about a daylily thickened fish soup? Something to ponder. Or if I could dry daylilies and make a powder? Questions abound.

This post isn't a recipe really, just a big salad of things from the garden, including the first tomatoes and cucumbers. I ate a lot of protein in the prior 26 hours (including kitfo and kocho take out from Dilla's, which was delicious), so all I wanted for dinner was this. I also went with my friend to Costco this weekend (my first ever Costco excursion), where I bought a bag of avocados and kerry gold cheddar, so they went on the salad too. Definitely not a cooking from the land aspect of this dinner!

Salad:
Lettuce/arugula
Daylily leaves
Nasturtium
Snap peas
Cucumber, diced
Tomatoes, halved
Fresh Herbs (dill, mint, basil, tarragon)
Avocado, sliced
Diced cheddar

Ranch style dressing:
Mix together homemade mayo, sherry vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, dill, heavy cream.