Green salad with feta, mint, peas, and cucumber

When the days are warm but not hot, and the nights are cool but not cold, it is prime lettuce season. Now is the time of year when Jacob and I eat big meal salads every day. Despite our constant picking, the lettuce keeps on coming. It grows so lush, it looks like we never harvest at all. Amazing. I grow a 'cut and come again' mix from Renee's Garden This means that I usually harvest the outer leaves from the plants, and they just keep growing. I find this WAY more efficient than harvesting an entire head of lettuce, and having to replant each time.

Lettuce growing like gangbusters in our backyard
garden  as of this afternoon (June 3rd).

To some a meal salad sounds too light to be satisfying, but this shouldn't be the case if you pack it with all kinds of delicious (and not so light) items like chicken and cheese. Such is the case as with this salad, which is an iteration of a Patricia Wells recipe.

This salad is delicious, simple, and oh so fresh tasting. Paired with a glass of wine and some crusty bread, it's perfect for a late spring dinner in the back yard. Here's how I make it:

Green salad with feta, mint, peas, and cucumber
A couple handfuls of fresh salad greens (about 2-3 cups)
1/4 cup diced cucumber
1 Tbs chopped mint leaves
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup shredded chicken
1/3 cup chopped raw sugar snap peas, still in pods

Toss salad with the juice of half a lemon, a drizzle of your best olive oil, and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Other items that sound good, but I didn't have on hand today: avocado, sliced radish, salty sunflower seeds, chives.