'Salad Bowl' / 'Herb Bowl' Planter

Some years ago my daughters gave me a salad bowl like this for mother's day. Cool idea. They even found this large wooden spoon and fork at our local thrift store, you know the kind that used to hang on our kitchen walls in the 70's era. Ever since then I have kept up the tradition and filled the bowl up with salad fixings every spring. These bowls are a pretty and useful addition to our deck, as well as a conversation piece.

This year I decided to add a herb bowl. Very handy to have these planters on the deck close to the kitchen door. A quick snip here and there and you have a salad and a vinaigrette made from your herbs, vinegar, and oils.

Find your favorite herbs at the greenhouse to place in your 'bowl'. You can also start from seeds, I prefer buying the plants so I can start using the herbs right away.

This salad came from the first pickings of the 'salad bowl' and I used some of the herbs for the zingy vinaigrette.

• 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red grapefruit infused olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon Worcesteshire sauce.

1. Whisk ingredients together and drizzle over salad.
2. Yield: enough vinaigrette for 2 plates of salad.

These are some of my favorite vinegar and oils I like using purchased at our local Prairie Oils & Vinegar store.