It is an early morning on a beautiful, sunny, and a very hot day in June. I sit at my kitchen island, drink coffee, and think about what to write in my first post.
Through the window I see my favorite hydrangeas in full bloom. At this time of the year, you can spot them in almost every yard in our neighborhood in many different colors from acid green, when they start to bloom, through all the shades of blue, pink, violet, and deep purple. Seven big hydrengea bushes are growing in front of my house. Every time I look at them I can hardly resist the urge to cut all the flowers and fill my many vases with them. But I know that if I let them bloom, they will stay beautiful until the first frost when they finally turn dark olive green and burgundy.
Lunch on such a gorgeous day should be light and fresh, and whenever I think that, a salad is almost always the first thing that comes to my mind. Today, I would like to propose a salad made from mache, also known as lamb's lettuce.
I have learned that recipe in Switzerland many years ago. Since mache is nowadays widely available I think it is worth popularizing.
Mache salad
Ingredients:
1 pack mache, about 340 grams,
3 organic eggs,
1/2 pack lean bacon, about 6oz,
1 tbsp honey mustard,
2 tbsps balsamic vinegar,
1/4 cup extra virgin oil,
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
Preparation:
1. Cook eggs for about 3 minutes from the moment of boiling (until hard), cool them down, and cut into small pieces.
2. Cut bacon in strips, fry until gold. Drain from all the excess fat.
3. In a big bowl mix together mustard, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. Add chopped eggs and bacon.
5. Fold in mache gently into the mixture.
6. Serve immediately with white bread or baguette.
Very simple and nutritious. I hope you'll enjoy it.
And please have another look at my hydrengeas:
