Line up all this green for St. Paddy’s Day, just around the corner

Nobody in our part of Texas really believes that winter won’t trick us with another sneak blast before we can kiss Jack Frost goodbye permanently. Rumblings yesterday at Roach Feed & Seed, Garland’s local supplier of gardening goods and advice, were that before the end of the month, a last bad freeze likely is due in. I peek out my back door at the burgeoning lettuce leaves struggling to keep their heads above the garden soil and wonder whether they can be survivors through another round of Arctic Attack.

While I wait for nature’s bounty from my own garden, I still have a partial bag of romaine lettuce left over from Three-Leaf Salad, the Wonder Salad I blogged about earlier in the week. Time for Lemony Lettuce, a second dressed-up lettuce recipe across the page from Three-Leaf Salad in my “Celebrating a Healthy Harvest” cookbooklet.

Talk about a tangy dressing that just makes the dish! The lemon-oil-and-vinegar, spiked with ground mustard, salt, and pepper, brings those lettuce leaves to life. As with the mundane-looking Three-Leaf Salad that ultimately got rave reviews, Lemony Lettuce amazes with its understated potential for being the most talked-about item on a buffet table.

With all this healthy green, I’m thinkin', line this recipe up for St. Paddy’s Day, which, after all, is just around the corner.

Lemony Lettuce

1 large head romaine lettuce

1 avocado, peeled, cut up into chunks

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon mustard

Rinse romaine pieces under cold running water. Shake off excess water and dry with paper towels. Place in salad bowl. Add cut-up avocado. Combine dressing ingredients in a screw-top jar. Cover and shake well. At serving time drizzle dressing over lettuce leaves and toss.

Thoughts of spring not far away with this Three-Leaf Salad

When we left for our Westward journey some weeks back, our part of Texas still was in the clutches of icy winter. We’ve returned to glorious spring—gorgeous, bright days, jonquils filling the flowerbeds, mild temperatures. What a transition—hooray!

On return, one of the first things we did was to inspect how the garden had fared during Jack Frost’s icy grip. The lettuce leaves that we thought might be so tender that they would succumb actually were hale and hardy. Onions seemed OK, too. Harvest days for our winter plantings may be just around the corner.

I had spotted this recipe earlier and had thought it would be a wonderful celebratory dish when we bring in our own crunchy lettuce. I couldn’t wait to try it, however, so into the salad bowl went three kinds of storebought greens. Hopefully our own will be ready for the next serving.

The ingredients were so simple, I couldn’t imagine how tasty this salad would be. But after downing one bowlful I kept going back for more. I also couldn’t help but think that this should be relegated to the Christmas-recipe section of my binder—the bright red of the pepper and the holiday green of the lettuce and spinach were Christmas colors, for sure.

But thoughts of next Christmas don’t linger around too long with these pretty springlike days that get us ready for one of the most beautiful seasons of all. Can planting our next garden be too far behind?

Three-Leaf Salad

1 head romaine lettuce

2 cups fresh spinach

1/4 head iceburg lettuce

1 large red Bell pepper, cored

3 tablespoons cooking oil

3 tablespoons vinegar

1/4 cup Cheddar cheese, grated

1 teaspoon salt (I used salt substitute)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Rinse all greens and slice into thin shreds. Put shreds into a large salad bowl. Cut pepper lengthwise into thin strips; add to the bowl. In a small container blend oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Add cheese and toss again. Serve immediately. Makes 4-6 servings.