Gingered Spam Salad, anyone?

So... this morning I had a great harvest of my little tiny Thai Hot Peppers. I've just got the one little plant but it's beautiful and it makes me very happy. Usually I pop one or two of these red hot babies into my pickle brine but I've got a metric goat-ton (considering how many we can actually consume) of them after this harvest and I was looking online for a good recipe to put them in.

Above is the plant in question. See the bell pepper peeking out behind it? Almost ready!

Nevermind that no one in my family can stomach eating something that hot. Minor details.

The recipe that came up over and over and OVER again was "Gingered Spam Salad".

Ok, so I'll just go ahead and be the first to admit it out loud: I like spam. I don't eat it often and I try to secret it into the cart when I do splurge on my guilty pleasure, but there is nothing so fine as a thinly sliced and crispy-fried spam sandwich with a fresh garden tomato in the summer. Mmmm! It's like a BLT but better because I have to sneak and eat it so no one will catch me. You know it's better if it's naughty!

I'm not so sure I want to try a Gingered Spam Salad, but because it was so persistent and because it somehow delights me that someone would "waste" good ingredients on spam, I'm going to include the recipe here for all to gawk at.

Gingered Spam Salad

1 can Spam, julienned.
1/4 c  Finely chopped ginger root
1 ea Small red onion, finely
     Chopped
1/2 ts Garlic powder
1/4 c  Freshly squeezed lime juice
     Zest of 1 lime
1/2 ts Oriental dried chili powder
1/4 c  Chopped cilantro leaves
8 ea Cherry tomatoes
     Thai bird peppers and
     Cilantro sprigs to garnish

Combine all ingredients in a sealed glass or plastic container to
marinate. Refrigerate at least two hours or preferably overnight.
Stir or shake occasionally to evenly coat.  One hour before serving,
stir in cilantro. Serve on a bed of torn salad greens of your choice.
Garnish with quartered cherry tomatoes, Thai bird peppers and
cilantro sprigs.

Also, if anyone would like some of my super-tasty (and extremely hot) Thai peppers, let me know. They're great if you wanna drop a couple into your pickle brine. They add a pop of color and it's fun to watch the consumers' eyes as their mouth lights-up like Disney World. For my gardening friends, these are heirloom seeds - you save the seeds the same way you do tomatoes - by fermenting them & saving the sinkers. Ask me if you have questions on the process!

Enjoy the pictures of this morning's harvest of Thai peppers and cherry tomatoes. Life is good in the garden today.

-R-

My garlic chives are blooming.  Aren't these the most beautiful little flowers?



Above are the little volunteer mushrooms growing under my rosemary bush.