Tomatoes in the ground, lettuce on the plate

First home-grown Mesclun Salad

Newly Planted (from Mahoneys & Pemberton)
- 4 Early Girl Tomatoes
- 3 La Roma Tomatoes
- 2 Brandywines
- 1 Sweet Cherry 100
- 1 Italian Basil
- 1 African Blue Basil
- 1 Lemongrass

The garden:
The plantlings were looking a little meager after leaving them unattended to harden over Memorial Day weekend. I took them inside the past few nights since the temps were dropping close to 40, and today I finally planted the tomatoes, basil and other warm weather crops in the garden. I read transplanting is best done on a misty, overcast days, so as to not shock the youngins with too much sun... and that was exactly today's weather.

When I first got to the garden, I noticed I was the only plot full of weeds... what's with that anyways? I grabbed my new garden hoe/rake Monster Tool, hacked it up and composted the weeds. After planting everything, I covered it all in a thick coating of compost and watered it down. Can' wait for the mulch to arrive so I can really mitigate the weeds. I'll probably buy my own brown mulch later this summer, just to ease my mind.

Before leaving, I picked the mesclun lettuce mix for a salad. That seed packet says it includes Arugula, Osaka Purple Mustard, Mizuna, Komastuna, Green Wave Mustard, and Persian Garden Cress. All are kinda spicy and very tasty. I also picked some dill for a German cucumber salad for ladies night. At home I cooked up some chicken kababs sans-receipe and it was pretty good! Here's my best guess at what it was:
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Zesty Chicken Kababs
- 1 chicken breast, cut into 1x2 inch chunks
- juice from 1/2 lemon
- 2 tbsp oil olive
- 2 tbsp cajun spice
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp honey

Directions:
- Whisk together oil & lemon juice in medium-sized, non-reactive bowl
- Add chicken pieces & top with cajun spice, toss to coat
- Marinate in fridge for 30 minutes
- When done, remove chicken from bowl and thread onto 2 wooden skewers
- Top skewers with oregano, cumin, garlic salt, ginger powder, pepper and drizzle with honey
- Bake for 10-15 minutes on 425˚F.
- Broil for additional 3 min for a crispy finish.
- Top onto Mesclun salad (see recipe below)
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Mesclun Salad
- Mesclun salad greens
- 1/2 of a granny smith apple, cut into matchstick pieces
- 1/8 cup walnuts, broken into small pieces
- 2 tbsp blue cheese, crumbled

Salad dressing
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard

- Combine all ingredients and whisk till smooth