Recipe: Spring strawberry salad with fresh violets
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As fresh and pretty as spring: Strawberry salad with fresh violets. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)
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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-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.
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Put just-picked violets into very cold water to keep
them fresh.
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Spring strawberry salad with fresh violets
Makes 2 to 4 servings
Ingredients:
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Food in My Back Yard Series
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of March 2
Between raindrops, get outside and do some work. Your plants have been busy growing!
* Pull weeds now! Don’t let them get started. Take a hoe and whack them as soon as they sprout.
* Start preparing vegetable beds. Spade in compost and other amendments.
* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs after bloom.
* Feed camellias at the end of their bloom cycle. Pick up browned and fallen flowers to help corral blossom blight.
* Feed citrus trees, which are now in bloom and setting fruit. To prevent sunburn and borer problems on young trees, paint the exposed portion of the trunk with diluted white latex (water-based) interior paint. Dilute the paint with an equal amount of cold water before application.
* Feed roses with a balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10, the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium available in that product).
* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs and trees after they bloom. Try using well-composted manure, spread 1-inch thick under the tree. This serves as both fertilizer and mulch, retaining moisture while cutting down on weeds.
* Cut back and fertilize perennial herbs to encourage new growth.
* In the vegetable garden, transplant lettuce and cole family plants, such as cabbage, broccoli, collards and kale.
* Seed chard and beets directly into the ground. (Tip: Soaking beet seeds in warm water a day ahead of planting helps with germination.)
* Before the mercury starts inching upward, this is your last chance to plant such annuals as pansies, violas and primroses.
* Plant summer bulbs, including gladiolus, tuberous begonias and callas. Also plant dahlia tubers.
* Shop for perennials. Many varieties are available in local nurseries and at plant events. They can be transplanted now while the weather remains relatively cool.
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