With a new job and a week at the cottage – the early summer recipe has turned into a midsummer post!  Scapes are a must when the first of the vegetables start coming in and the first two CSA (community-supported-agriculture) baskets invariably contain them.  Now there’s something I’ve always secretly wanted to do: use yellow mustard in a salad dressing.  I figured that it’s bright and sunny colour coupled with the zing of vinegar would make for a summery success: and when you add some scapes and a lot of lemon – it does!  But don’t stop at this salad, the dressing makes a great sauce for veggie burgers and it also enlivens the simplest of grains, so it’s a nice staple to keep on-hand for the short time that the scapes last.

Yield: 2/3 cup dressing & salad for 4 as a side, or 2 as a main (in which case you’ll want to add some grain and/or bean to the salad!)

What you need for the dressing:

• 7 garlic scapes, roughly chopped
• 1 organic lemon, zested + the juice, about 1/4 cup of juice and a whole lot of zest
•  1-1/2 teaspoons ume plum vinegar
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/4 cup olive oil (or flax oil if you don’t mind that grassy taste!)

What you need for the salad:

• 4 packed cups mesclun mix or other greens
• 1 cup quartered and sliced cucumber,
• 1 cup halved baby tomatoes, quartered if very large
• 1 cup snap peas cut crosswise into thirds
• 1 medium carrot, grated or made into ribbons using a peeler
• dressing to taste, 1/4 to 1/3 cup should do it

What you do for the dressing:

1. Toss everything into a blender or Magic Bullet type mixer (preferably high-speed) and blend until smooth and emulsified.

What you do for the salad:

1. Toss everything but the dressing into a bowl to combine.  Add the dressing, mix to coat evenly and serve immediately.