Yougurt dressing (a la Ranch)

Why do we like Ranch dressing so much? It is so creamy and delicious. But really, human taste buds crave fat and salt, that's it. The problem is, majority of prepared dressing in the supermarket contains so many chemicals and corn by-products that it makes it not worth it using it. The only organic, "all natural" dressing I could find in a regular store cost about $4.99 for a small bottle, and still contained corn. So, here we go, venture to create all natural dressing that is rich and satisfying, yet devoid of corn and chemicals.

Get some plain (not the fat-free or low fat) variety of yougurt. In my area the only brand I could find that satisfies that requirement is Dannon. The only ingerdient listed on the back of the package is "cultured milk". That's all you want if you want natural food. There could be though "milk, enzymes". That's OK too, same thing. But nothing else.

Now, get your spices. Salt, garlic powder, cayenne and some dried herbs, like dill weed or parsley flakes. The list is not mandatory, experiment with your spices to find what pleases you. We are not trying to mimic ranch, we are trying to create an alternative natural but tasty dressing.

Whisk it together with a fork, and there you have it. If it is not creamy enough for you, add a teaspoon of sour cream, again all natural and not fat free or low fat.

Purslane salad

Do you have purslane growing in your garden beds? You might not know, but this highly nutritious weed might be hiding in between your vegetables. Find it, get a good bunch of it and let's make a salad.

1. Chop the tops of the bunches and then pick the leaves from the lower stems. You might chop the whole plant, but the stems are a bit tough, so these are better be used in a compost bin.

2. Use purslane as a substitute for the greens in your salad. You could use it as a nutritious addition as well. Purslane is high in Omega 3, vitamins A, B and C as well as anti-oxidants.

3. Add other non-starchy vegetables. I just harvested these cucumbers and peppers from the garden, and added a store-bought tomato. No biggie, use what you have, the more variety the better.

4. Mix it all up.

5. Optionally (but preferably) add some chopped garlic, ground flaxseed and some of the refried beans to add protein, as well as olive oil-vinegar dressing and you are done!

6. Here's the most nutritious, tasty, filling and creative salad on the face of this planet!

I hope you learn to appreciate the weed called purslane in your garden.

Sweet potato leaves salad

I am almost ashamed to post this recipe because it's a throw together, from whatever could be found in the garden in season. But there are two things going for this salad, first - the greens in it are alternative, not the regular lettuce greens. The reason for that is that in Florida in the summer there is no lettuce in the garden, but plenty of other non-traditional greens. Second - the salad uses eggs and cheese and therefore is a meal by itself, on the days when I don't want to cook a whole dinner. So, here it is:

1. Gather all ingredients:

In this picture there are horseradish leaves, purslane, sweet potato leaves and amaranth leaves for the green part. Sweet potato leaves and amaranth leaves are lightly blanched in boiling water, maybe for ten seconds, and then drained and cooled. The rest is: lots of tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, onion, hard boiled eggs and cheese.

2. Chop all vegetables and eggs, shred the cheese and mix everything together:

3. Prepare the dressing. For the dressing I whisk together 4 oz of apple cider vinegar, 1/2 oz of olive oil, heaping tablespoon of prepared mustard and some cayenne and salt to taste.