#mesclun

Whether you choose to make this Smoked Trout and Cucumber Toast your breakfast or a light lunch, it is a beaut as it is tasty (and if you opt for the latter, a glass of well-chilled Chardonnay pairs nicely with it!)

Ingredients (serves 1):

1 slice soft polar bread

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

3/4 Garden Mesclun, rinsed and spin-dried

1/4 cucumber, rinsed

about 30 grams/1 ounces smoked trout

freshly cracked black pepper

a drizzle of olive oil

Place polar bread onto serving plate, and spread generously with butter.

Arrange Garden Mesclun on top.

Cut cucumber into four thin slices, and halve these.

Arrange cucumber slices and smoked trout onto the Mesclun. Sprinkle, to taste, with cracked black pepper, and drizzle with a little olive oil.

I’ve missed having arugula lately. My first planting in the fall was terribly disrupted by moles and I never replanted in the raised bed.

Mole activity has quieted down so ever the optimist I planted more arugula.

This season my mesclun lettuce came in thickly and yielded many shearings. Cool weather with critical rainfall and perhaps my seed selection account for the performance. I’ll definitely plant Monet’s Garden next year. It’s a colorful and flavorful mix of Little Gem, Dutch Redina, Rouge Grenobloise, Red Salad Bowl and Tango.

Planted in mid-October, Monet’s Garden has had a good run. I’ve given bags of it away and added it to our own salads. Now it’s a Thanksgiving feast for the worms in the worm bin.

Anticipating this most recent storm I was dipping water from the rain barrels to deep water permanent edibles (fruit trees, artichokes, rhubarb, berries) and add some to the raised beds. We received 1.1 inches of rain in less than 24 hours which is substantial for our coastal location. This photo shows the rain barrels refilled.