My garden’s lettuce box has been growing like crazy and we have an abundance of arugula, salad bowl lettuce, mesclun green, and romaine. I love love love our romaine- it’s sooo crisp and fresh and you can’t get more local than your very own backyard. I decided to make a caesar salad, because it was a perfect way to showcase this lovely lettuce. My friend was over for dinner and she couldn’t get over how good the salad tasted- she was sure it was the homegrown lettuce! This is a really neat Caesar salad dressing, because it’s completely raw. There is no mayo, or eggs, or anything like that, yet it’s creamy and garlicky, just like regular caesar salad dressing. Instead of using croutons, I just used cashews, as I’m not eating yeast right now. I know the argument that cashews aren’t technically “raw” but I don’t eat 100% so it’s not a big deal for me.
I took some pictures of the other wonderful things we have growing here, too. I think the only things I left out were our tomatoes, marionberry, strawberries, some herbs, and the several kinds of beans that I have yet to plant.
Romaine:
Lettuce Box:
One of the raspberry ‘bushes’….gotta give this little baby some love for the next couple years!
Parsley:
Peas (and those little containers contain personal cantaloupe!):
Rosemary- my favourite herb!!
Rhubarb:
Garlic (I cannot WAIT to harvest this and eat it…mmm….garlic….)
I found this recipe on the internet, but apparently it is adapted from Natalia Rose’s Raw Food Detox Diet Book. It makes about 3 cups, and keeps for about 10 days.
Raw Caesar Salad
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp miso
- 5 dates
- 4 celery stalks
- freshly ground black pepper
Put all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.
I added some capers and parmesan cheese and it was delish! Love the cashews!
Oh Koko, such a beautiful lettuce garden…I wish I had one…the salad looks so tasty and sure fresh…love the idea of miso in it
Love the pictures!
Nice, mom!
Thanks Juliana!
Your lettuce is really amazing! Do you have a garden or a window shelf? (If so, I could maybe try to grow some!)
Thanks Zoe!! My lettuce is growing in a raised garden bed.
Hello Koko!
Your garden is thriving!! The salads are looking so tasty & everything has grown so well! Yeah!!
There is nothing better the, home grown vegs & that salad dressing sounds so tasty too!
Lovely pics too!
Many greets from hot Brussels!
Hi Koko,
So I made the sauce to go with the caesar salad and thank you everyone said it was a winner. The olive oil always seems to lift the taste – however I find since I have been using olive oil a lot more in my recipes that I seem to be putting on quite a bit of weight! Does anyone know of a healthy alternative with less calories yet without losing the taste.
cheers