Greek Picnic Salad

The photo below shows some of my garden harvest that will soon become one of our favorite summer salads. . .

. . . Greek Picnic Salad!

GREEK PICNIC SALAD

Combine:

6 Ripe TOMATOES, chopped
2 GREEN BELL PEPPERS, seeded and diced
1 RED ONION, diced
2-3 CUCUMBERS. seeded and diced
1/2 cup chopped FRESH PARSLEY
1 can RIPE OLIVES, sliced in half lengthwise
1/4 pound FETA CHEESE, crumbled

Place in the work-bowl of a food processor or in a blender:

1/2 cup EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
2 Tablespoons LEMON JUICE
2 Tablespoons WINE VINEGAR
1 1/2 Teaspoons DIJON MUSTARD
1/8 teaspoon BLACK PEPPER
2 cloves GARLIC, minced

Process until well blended and toss with salad ingredients. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.

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Nothing tastes more like summer than tomatoes, cukes and peppers from the garden, and this salad showcases them all to perfection!

Tiger Swallowtail on White Phlox

I was able to capture this photo a couple of weeks ago when this butterfly landed on the white phlox in my front flower garden.

More often than not, the butterflies in my garden "flutter by" so quickly it is difficult to get any decent photos. But this one was obviously enjoying the phlox and stayed for nearly a full minute, while I quickly snapped several photos.

Here you can better see the colors and markings of the beautiful Tiger Swallowtail..... no "raggedy wings" here, like the one I photographed earlier in the summer.

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"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." ~Maya Angelou

Squash Update

A while back I did a post on a new squash I am growing this year called Sunshine. I have been surprised at how vigorous the vine is and how many nice sized fruit is it bearing.

They are so pretty in their bright orange coats....they remind me of pumpkins!

Here are a couple of immature Butternut squash. They seem to be developing fruit rather late this year, so I hope they will ripen before frost. They are pretty, too, at this stage...with their lovely medium and light green stripes.