Summer Salad (with Fennel, Mint & Raisins)

Summer has officially arrived in Spokane!

As the nights start to heat up, you’ll probably notice the plants in your garden start to grow by leaps and bounds…

I typically spend the spring thinking “when is this stuff going to be ready to eat?” and about now is when I start thinking “how am I going to eat all this stuff?!”

It’s a good problem to have!

One of my favorites things about our garden is all the fresh greens…although spinach has already come and gone, we have a tone of kale, chard and romaine lettuce to use.

And one of the best ways to use all our fresh greens is to make a huge salad.

So if you have some extra greens to use up, or if you just want a really delicious salad recipe, I think you’ll really like this recipe. Enjoy 🙂

Ingredients:

• Several cups of fresh greens, chopped or torn into pieces (aka spinach, kale, chard, or any kind of lettuce)
• 1 bulb of fennel
• 1/2 head of red cabbage, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
• 1/2 cup organic raisins (be picky here!)
• Olive oil and balsamic vinegar (dressing)

Instructions:

1. Place all your greens into a large salad bowl
2. Top the greens with the red cabbage, fennel, mint and raisins (in that order looks nicest!)
3. Apply olive oil and balsamic vinegar to taste (we tend to use a lot of oil and vinegar on our salads, but everyone has their own taste)
4. Gobble gobble!

Depending on your preference, you can always top your salad with your favorite protein, like grilled chicken, salmon or ground beef.

I enjoy topping mine with savory ground beef for breakfast, while my wife tops hers with a few fried eggs.

Enjoy!