Sacramento Digs Gardening: This Mediterranean combination is summer-meets-fall

Rose petals, hiding upper left, add a colorful touch to this salad. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Crunchy, salty, chewy, sweet; this salad has a tasty mix of flavorful opposites plus one surprise.

Figs and walnuts, which are now coming into season, contrast with baby arugula, chard, kale and other cool-weather greens. Crumbled blue cheese gives the salad some extra tang.

This combination was inspired by a simply classic fig-arugula-feta salad served at Mulvaney’s B&L. The fresh walnuts provide some extra crunch.

For extra color, I added some fresh rose petals. (Yes, roses are edible, but only if you don’t spray or use systemic pesticides. Rinse petals well but gently to avoid bruising.)

Many different baby greens work well in this salad. When thinning chard or kale (leafy greens generally cooked before serving), save those little discards for fresh salads. They add texture as well as flavor to fall salads.

Fig and walnut salad

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 fresh figs

¼ cup walnuts, chopped

¼ cup blue cheese, crumbled

2 cups fresh mixed baby greens (arugula, chard, kale, etc.)

¼ cup rose petals (optional)

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¼ teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Lovely salad for late summer or early fall.

Instructions:

Wash figs. (Peeling is optional.) Slice thinly.

In a large bowl, combine greens, rose petals, figs, chopped walnuts and blue cheese.

In a jar, combine all ingredients for vinaigrette. Cover and shake well.

Drizzle dressing over salad ingredients. Toss lightly. Serve immediately.

RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes gardening Sacramento backyard produce produce management salad farm to fork homegrown food fall fruit figs

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Food in My Back Yard Series

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March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth

March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds

March 4: Potatoes from the garden

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Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space

Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

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Garden Checklist for week of May 4

Enjoy this spring weather – and get gardening!

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

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