Creamy Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette Salad + Victory Gardening
The garden is producing joy aplenty and so it’s time of to make salads and other delicious dishes. This recipe incorporates the wonder greens we are harvesting as well as the zest and juice of our Meyer lemons to make a creamy Meyer lemon vinaigrette salad.
Creamy Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette Recipe
We know, we know. Many of you are still freezing while we’re basking in Southern California’s warm embrace. It’s a catch-22 situation with this post because we get e-mails requesting more updates on the garden, but if we do, we certainly don’t wan’t to be rubbing today’s 78°F sunshine in anyone’s blog face. But we will talk about this yummy Meyer lemon vinaigrette recipe.
As we mentioned, folks are asking us to write about our garden updates more, what we’re currently growing and how the pesky possums’s are treating us (you, smart asses!). We’ve been cautious to gloat about our freakishly warm “Winter”, but since we’ve made weather peace with all of you, here’s the update: The garden is going friggin crazy and so it’s time to make this meyer lemon vinaigrette recipe.
Victory gardening = lettuce + lemons = dinner!
Our Victory Garden
To find out more about Victory Gardens, visit Revive the Victory Garden, Red White & Grew, San Francisco’s Victory Garden, or google “Victory Gardens” to find a plethora of information at your fingertips.
So, what is in our Victory Garden this month? Our four varieties of radishes are popping up like weeds and they’ve become such uncontrollable green critters that we’ll have to eat the radish tops in a salad soon before they fight each other for space. The beets, onions, spinach, tatsoi, mustard greens, soybeans, kohlrabi, broccoli and cauliflower seedlings were all sunbathing in the warm sun today. The leeks have barely poked out to say “hello”, but in a few weeks, they’ll be screaming out for more attention.
Mixed Garden Greens
The biggest attention stealers today were all the baby, mixed green lettuce and meyer lemons. This is the time of year that we drown in tender lettuce and beautiful citrus. With 13 citrus trees in the garden, this is the time of year that we, literally, Zest To Death! Although not all the citrus trees are bearing fruit now, what we do have on the trees is enough to eat and perfume our house with. It was only appropriate to have our first big garden salad of mixed greens, tossed in a creamy meyer lemon vinaigrette. The simple blend of fresh meyer lemon juice, some olive oil and touch of other seasons just can’t be beat. The bright, aromatic flavors of fresh lemon juice on soft lettuce leaves, crispy stems and some added crunch from nuts was what we call, a Victory dinner.
What a well deserved dinner this was, especially for Todd. He spent 4 hours trimming half of our 32 ficus hedges, to be saved for mulch throughout the year. A round of applause for the mulch man, Todd! He’s my pruning hero.
Salad with Creamy Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 head lettuce
- walnuts, almonds or pecans (optional)
Dressing Ingredients
- Zest of 1 large meyer lemon
- 2 Tablespoons Meyer lemon juice from about 1 large meyer lemon
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 clove garlic , crushed or minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt , or to personal taste
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey , optional
Instructions
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a bowl (meyer lemon juice, olive oil, salt, balsamic vinegar, mayonnaise, sugar, and garlic). Whisk together until mayo blends into vinaigrette, leaving no lumps.
- Toss over fresh lettuce and nuts.
This is my primary dressing for my daily lunch salads. Yes, I love it that much! Even my sister asks me to make her some every week. Thank you for this!
Thank you Tina! So happy that you and your sister enjoy this. yummy dressing.
I really enjoyed this dressing. It was so fresh and the meyer lemons are just enough of a difference to notice! It brings me back to the time in my life when I lived in Piedmont and had a very fruitful meyer lemon tree in my backyard. Thank you!
I adore Meyer Lemons and this looks amazing! I’m going to make this tonight to go with a polenta pizza I’m making!
Erin
Thanks for the Meyer Lemon dressing recipe! I suggested it in my blog and linked to you guys.
LOVE this recipe!! I’m a Meyer lemon fan from way back. This is a keeper. Thank you! Great pictures of the garden!
My new obsession of 2009 are Meyer lemons. I use them on everything. The other day I made some swiss chard with zante currants, pinenuts, and meyer lemon juice. It was amazing!!!!
This recipe is perfect! We’re having salad tonight and I’m still working my way through some Meyer lemons so we’ll give the dressing a go. Sadly no warm weather yet, but I am daydreaming while flipping through seed catalogs.
Love Love Love that you have Meyers growing in your yard! I wish our tree would produce!! You have poked a big interest in the Victory Garden. I am going to click on that link as soon as I finish typing this. I am bursting at the seams to get out in our garden – the weather is too wacky here. Warm, rainy & now freezing (again)!
This is one of our favorite dressings – always use the Meyers in ours. A touch of dijon is a nice addition, too!
xx
I’m jealous as you get hungry for lunch…wander to your garden, yank some leaves, herbs, lemons and head back into the kitchen for lunch.
Oh, I am excited to try this recipe, I recently planted a Yuzu tree and I bet this vinaigrette would be great with that too. Can’t wait to get my first fruit!
LL
How great to be able to eat a wonderful salad like that from your own garden!
The imagination runs wild contemplating a garden in such friendly environs. Well, can’t complain. Dandelions are starting to come up in Seattle and the stinging nettles are pushing through the dirt. Almost time to plant the spring garden!
this is like summer on a plate. yes, i’m seething with jealousy but also really enjoying that bright, yellow lemon picture. smiles all around.
I am officially green with envy — my herb garden is buried under more than a foot of snow! But Trader Joe’s had some Meyer lemons last week, so I’m all set to make a salad with this vinaigrette.