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Edible flowers top this pretty salad

Recipe: Spring strawberry salad with fresh violets

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAR 28, 2021 9:45 A.M.

Plate with strawberries, violets, lettuce and radishes

As fresh and pretty as spring: Strawberry salad with fresh violets. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

This vibrant spring salad is as flavorful as it is colorful. Both cut crosswise, fresh strawberries and radishes contrast nicely in both taste and texture. They look especially pretty combined with the rich greens of fresh spinach and leaf lettuce. (The variety used in this recipe: Red butterhead.)

The garnish is a conversation starter: Fresh violets. The white and blue varieties of Viola are edible.

Viola alba , the white perennial violet, is native to America’s woodlands. It’s a cast-iron ground cover in low-water gardens. It grows so easily, many gardeners consider it a weed. If you can’t beat it, eat it.

(Just make sure your violets haven’t been exposed to pesticides or herbicides.)

Pick your violets with about ½ inch of stem. Plunge flowers immediately into ice-

Put just-picked violets into very cold water to keep

them fresh.

cold water. Keep them in cold water until ready to use.

Other varieties of Viola may be substituted for violets; the smaller the varieties, the tastier.

Spring strawberry salad with fresh violets

Makes 2 to 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 to 6 strawberries, hulled and sliced crosswise

2 radishes, sliced

1 scallion, chopped

2 tablespoons slivered almonds

2 cups lettuce, roughly cut or torn into pieces

1 cup baby spinach leaves, roughly cut or torn into pieces

Dressing:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon seasoning salt

Garnish:

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh violets or violas (optional)

Instructions:

In a large bowl, put sliced strawberries, radishes, scallions, lettuce and spinach. Toss lightly.

In a jar, combine olive oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, sugar and seasoning salt. Cover jar and shake to combine. Pour dressing over salad and toss lightly again.

Divide salad onto plates. Garnish with violets or violas.

Serve immediately.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes strawberries gardening Sacramento backyard produce salad spring farm to fork edible flowers

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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Oct. 2

Plan to make the most of the mild weather in your garden.

* October is the best month to plant trees and shrubs.

* October also is the best time to plant perennials in our area. Add a little well-aged compost and bone meal to planting holes or beds, but hold off on other fertilizers until spring. Keep the transplants well-watered (but not wet) for the first month as they become settled.

* Now is the time to plant seeds for many flowers directly into the garden, including cornflower, nasturtium, nigella, poppy, portulaca, sweet pea and stock.

* Plant seeds for radishes, bok choy, mustard, spinach and peas.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Set out cool-weather bedding plants, including calendula, pansy, snapdragon, primrose and viola.

* Reseed and feed the lawn. Work on bare spots.

* Dig up corms and tubers of gladioluses, dahlias and tuberous begonias after the foliage dies. Clean and store in a cool, dry place.

* Treat azaleas, gardenias and camellias with chelated iron if leaves are yellowing between the veins.

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