I'm willing the greens in the garden to grow a bit faster with this recipe today. Every May I go through a little spurt of loving gardening. You know, before the weeds really set in. I can spend an hour checking on my sprouts, misting seedlings, and deadheading flowers with out even noticing. This is a passing phase--by July I'll be fed up with the hot sun, the wild grasses that have gone to seed, and the raspberry bush that always seems to under produce. That's why we have sprinklers, right?

This year I planted rows and rows of lettuce, swiss chard, and brussels sprouts. In my daze I even planted a purple sweet potato--right in between a melon plant and a Delicata squash- thinking for a moment it might grow like a regular potato. Come to find out, they don't grow like that at all. I guess I got a little carried away! (I'm debating whether I should leave it there and see if something happens. I think it's just going to turn into squirrel food. Oops!).

Whether I end up with sweet potatoes or not, I'll be making this dressing, and I'll be drizzling it all over any greens that walk into the house. Heck, I might even use tomatoes from the garden!

This recipe is one of those I-can't-believe-it's-that-easy recipes. Literally all you have to do is blitz the ingredients in the blender. I keep it in a jar in the fridge and pour it over salads for a week straight with out complaining. Fresh herbs make this dressing worth raving about. I used basil, thyme, rosemary and chives (pretty much everything I had growing) but if you only have two of those its still worth trying. Fresh tomatoes make this dressing pop, while a touch of truffle oil keeps it grounded. A bit of salt and pepper, a zing of garlic--no wonder I'm getting impatient for those plants to grow!

What are you growing in your gardens this year? Any gardening mis-haps or experiments?

Easy Tomato Herb Dressing

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian | Caitlin Sherwood |

A I-can’t-believe-it’s-that-easy recipe for salad dressing, using ingredients from your garden!

Yield: 1 cup | Total Time: 5 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes
Juice of 1 lemon
4 large basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon chives
1/2 teaspoon nutritional yeast or 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese (I've had it both ways--they taste different, but are both good)
1/2 teaspoon truffle oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Put all ingredients in the blender and purée until smooth. Taste, and add additional salt and pepper as needed.
Store in the fridge in an air-tight jar for up to a week.