the 'everything from your garden' potato salad

I can't even take credit for this salad, but my garden can. And by garden, I mean pots on my balcony.

It's these potted plants that gave rise to the easiest potato salad ever, although my lack of decisiveness could also be to blame. I went out to pick just kale, but then I saw the arugula, and the chives, and the parsley. I couldn't just pick the kale and leave the others. So I didn't. I picked all four and all four went into this salad.

Some might think I'm crazy, but I made it work. There's no rules that say you can't eat kale with arugula, or chives with parsley. I think they actually complement each other nicely...and so does my 'garden' for which they came from.

Now it's your turn to get a bowl and throw a bunch of green stuff in it...with potatoes.

There's no real no rocket science behind this salad, which is why you won't find measurements below, but more of a 'adjust to your likings' type dish.

Dressing ingredients

• extra-virgin olive oil*
• apple cider vinegar*
• dijon mustard*
• nutritional yeast
• salt and pepper
• lemon juice

*start small and work your way up with these, too much of one will determine the overall flavours.

Salad ingredients

• 12 - 15 small white potatoes, chopped
• handful of fresh chives, minced
• handful of fresh parsley, minced
• handful of fresh arugula, torn up
• handful of fresh kale, torn up

Preparation

• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add cut potatoes once water starts boiling and cook for 10+ minutes (depending on the size of your potatoes).
• Meanwhile, whip up your dressing.
• Strain cooked potatoes and mix with kale while hot to wilt the kale (2 minutes).
• Separate the kale and the potatoes; rinse the potatoes under cold water to prevent them from overcooking, then place in a large bowl.
• Add your garden greens to the potatoes, along with your dressing.
• Mix and enjoy!

The only sad part about making an 'everything from your garden' salad is that you no longer have everything from your garden for another one. I guess it either means I didn't buy enough stuff for my garden or that I just need to buy more.

I guess we'll see how quickly my little garden can regenerate itself and then go from there!

QUESTION: What's your favourite type of salad? Pasta, potato, lettuce, grains, etc...


I love my regular green salads, but sometimes when they get boring, I like to switch to nice potato or grain salads.

*****
One more thing to add (and yes, I realize it's June 3rd, but you can still partake!)

Want to do a fun June challenge and do you like salads?

Be part of the #saladaday challenge this month. Check out Angela's post on it (it's all her idea!) for more details and check out some of her delicious salads for inspiration!! You know you wanna!

Happy salad eating!

bringing back breakfast + important things to note

Call me crazy (actually, please don't!), but I brought back an old breakfast favourite. I don't know where it disappeared to for the last few months (probably somewhere behind all the pancakes I was eating!), but it finally made a comeback. Toast with PB&J.

Just as good as I remembered! Don't ever leave me for that long again...unless your name is pancakes and you have another litre of maple syrup to provide us with because we mysteriously already devoured the one my mom gave us a week ago.

Ok so, not a litre, but still a decent amount that could probably last a family of 4 a month, yet it lasted this family of 2...6 days. Make that 5.

This is also a good time to let you guys in on some important things that I have to note. Pay attention because they may come in handy someday.

#1: always be careful, not to fill your tea mug too full so that when you walk, it spills all over you, and you end up a burn victim.

This was after the down-the-hall spillage...hence the cm space in the mug now. Speaking of cm's, yes that's my calculated AND the periodic table featured in this pic. You must be super jealous of the things I do in a day ;)

#2: your frying pan should always look like this:

I don't care how many times the veggies fall out as you try to stir it, you should always have a frying pan that's overflowing with them. Plus, kale wilts down so much that it's like you never put any in!

#3: I drink water like I've been in the Sahara for 5 years, and you should too.

I drink at least one of those canisters everyday (it holds 1182mL), along with water upon waking and with everything in between. I'd like to say that my bladder is as solid as that water bottle, but unfortunately it's not! And don't drink a lot before bed like me. But if you do, let's compare times for when we get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night - mine's hanging around 1-2am right now!

#4: make your own gnocchi.

It totally beats the stuff you buy in the fridge section at the grocery store. If I knew that my first attempt at making gnocchi would turn out fabulous, I would have tried sooner. Looking at this picture makes me want to make more right now. Just don't share any with your husband because he'll eat it all on you, and then your hard work goes to waste. When he asks what you're making, say, "what gnocchi?! I don't see any!"

And there you have it...very important things, clearly.

Time to get back to studying chemistry - my least favourite thing about 'important things to note.'