In the spring, our gardens produce so many varieties of baby greens. For our full moon supper, we were lucky enough to have wild leek leaves, fiddleheads, baby arugula, and radish and pea shoots. For your baby greens mix at home, use whatever is fresh and local—most markets carry fresh garden greens in the spring. Mix the greens with edible flowers, such as chive blossoms, dandelions or violets, or whatever edible flower you have on hand.
Mix of baby greens
Edible flowers
Hotter than Hades Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
Gently toss lettuces and flowers together. If you plate this course, it will keep all the distinguishing features versus placing all the ingredients in a large salad bowl. I place them on the plate and drizzle the vinaigrette overtop, preserving each variety of delicate green.
If using fiddleheads, prepare them by rinsing well in cold water, cut off any brown parts of the stem, boil in salted water for 10 minutes, drain and cool. Add in like you would any one of the greens.
Hotter than Hades Vinaigrette
Makes 1 cup
We call our vinaigrette by the name of our chili-infused honey, Hotter than Hades. If you don’t have some in your pantry, no worries; simply use regular honey with a pinch of cayenne pepper. You need only a small amount of the dressing with these tender greens.
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
1 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp honey
Pinch cayenne, or more to taste
Add vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, mustard, honey and cayenne to jar with tight-fitting lid, shake well and keep refrigerated until needed.
About Danielle French
I founded South Pond Farms in 2008. The property is on the Oak Ridges Moraine in the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe Mississauga. South Pond started as a small food delivery business making fresh prepared meals from ingredients in my garden. Together with my family, we restored the barn, the iconic heritage silo and the land to become a destination for authentic culinary experiences, weddings, celebrations, workshops. Inspired from the farm, I also create a line of culinary products and gifts.
In 2021, I was ready to move away from the farm. As much as I loved the land and the country, it was time to let someone else bring their passion to what we had created. My new home is in Peterborough, Ontario where I’m taking some time to write, contemplate next steps, train my dogs, blog about recipes and interesting explorations and unpack!
