Busy Bea Knits

This weekend was mostly about gardening.  I spent most of today trimming my lemon verbena plant so I will have plenty of leaves for evening tea this Fall.  I also filled a five gallon bucket with purslane.  It took a couple of hours to trim away the roots and wash them thoroughly.  They're going to be part of my lunch all week.  I made some with onions and fresh jalapeno salsa.  The tender baby ones were mixed with melon seed pasta or "sopitas" (I'll definitely have to post this recipe, I can't find any online at the moment for reference).

And I have a few tomato plants that came out of nowhere...I have a hunch they were accidentally planted as seeds on the same soil as the flat of iceplants I bought on Memorial Day weekend.  There were over 100 tomato plants that sprouted. 

The front yard is now home to about half of them while my sister is managing the other half in our backyard.  I have a feeling we'll be making lots of salsa, bruschetta, pomodoro sauce, caprese salad and lots of this Summer Corn Salad.  It's more of a recipe concept than an actual written recipe, so alter the proportions as you see fit.  I'm still trying to figure out the vinaigrette myself, but I will say that the VitaMix is my secret weapon in the kitchen for blending vinaigrettes.  It's so powerful!  And it will taste even more like summer if you add grilled white corn off the cobb.


Summer Corn Salad
2 cans white corn kernals, drained
1 can yellow corn kernals, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 large red tomatoes, chopped
3 large avocadoes, chopped
3-4 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1 small handful cilantro, finely chopped (about 4 tablespoons)

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette
4 tablespoons cilantro
juice of one lime (a good juicy one)
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Blend ingredients in blender on high till smooth. 

Pour vinaigrette over salad ingredients (everything except the avocadoes).  Chill for one hour, then add avocadoes, gently toss and serve immediately.  Enjoy!

I was pleasantly surprised at the effectivenss of the lime in the vinaigrette at keeping the avocado pretty and green.  This was our dinner on Saturday.  What a great way to use our avocadoes and tomatoes this summer!
This is what the frontyard looks like now...
I'm delaying putting in a new lawn till next year.  We've got a vegetable garden this year instead.  Actually the amaryllis still provide a nice view for passersby, so it's not completely taken over by tomatoes.
Hope your weekend was fruitful as well.