Spring is here!  And so are the greens from the garden.  If you’re a regular reader, you’re probably starting to catch on that I make a lot of salad with fish on it.  It’s a quick and delicious dinner, especially when greens are plentiful.

Everybody’s eaten lettuce and spinach, but maybe if you’re in a CSA this year, especially City Gardens CSA, you’re seeing some more unusual greens.  Here in Idaho, a number of delicious cold-weather-loving greens are available only in the spring.  Mizuna is one of those!  Mizuna is a mustard green with a very mild flavor, not bitter like some other mustards.  To grow mizuna, you should direct seed it in very early spring, in mid March.  Mizuna will bolt as soon as it gets hot, so you can plant it in a partially shaded area of the garden.  The bugs also love it, so we cover ours with row cover to keep them off, and can help keep it from bolting, too.

You can mix it with other salad greens, and the pointy leaves will make your mix really attractive, or make your whole salad from mizuna, as we have here.  Don’t cut the white stems off though, those are the crunchiest and most flavorful part.

Ingredients:

• Nest of Mizuna or other salad greens
• Sole or other white fish
• Dusting of flour

Mango dressing:

• One mango
• One small onion
• Handful of Cilantro
• Handful of Basil leaves if you have them
• Juice of 2 limes
• Splash of rice vinegar
• Salt and pepper

To make the dressing, chop mango, onion, and herbs.  Squeeze 2 limes over the mixture and  mix, add rice vinegar to get the desired amount of liquid in your dressing.   Season with salt and pepper.  You could really use any chunky dressing, or substitute another fruit for the mangos, maybe strawberries if you want something in season.

Arrange a bed of mizuna on a plate.  Drag the sole fillet through flour and pan fry in butter.  It doesn’t take long at all to cook, as sole is very thin.  You could use other fish, we’ve also used trout.  Top with dressing and serve.

-Katie