Someone who shall remain nameless (but is not me) neglected to check behind the shutters before closing them against the afternoon sun.
Bats like to hang out behind the shutters.
Bats don’t like sunlight.
We now have a bat in the house.
I’m pretty sure that when we open the windows at sunset he’ll be happy to leave. In the meantime he finally settled down (upside down) on the curtains by the window.
I believe that there will be two results to this incident: someone shall remember to look behind the shutters and the bat will find another resting place.
In the meantime, we’re still eating salads….
Salmon, Avocado, New Potato Salad
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 salmon filets, 12oz total (360gr)
- 1 tsp dill weed
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 10oz (300gr) new potatoes, scrubbed, cut in half
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 avocado, pitted, sliced/
- 4oz (120gr) marinated artichoke hearts, cut in half in needed
- lettuce for main course salad for 2 persons
- Creamy Yogurt Dressing
- 1/2 cup (4oz, 120gr) Greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 tbs Dijon-style mustard
- 2 tbs white Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbs chopped, fresh tarragon
- 1 tbs chopped, fresh chives
- 3 tbs salad olive oil
Instructions:
- Combine 1 tbs olive oil and paprika
- Add potatoes and stir to coat.
- Spread on a baking sheet and roast, 400F (200) for 20 minutes, or until done.
- Remove and set aside.
- Sprinkle dill over salmon.
- Sprinkle salt on top of dill.
- Cook on barbecue grill 10 – 15 minutes, depending on thickness. Salmon should flake easily with fork when done but it’s okay to have it still a bit pink in the center.
- Remove and with a fork or table knife gently scrape the salt and dill off of the salmon.
- Break the salmon into large chunks. Set aside.
- Dressing: Whisk yogurt, mustard and vinegar
- Drizzle in olive oil whisking constantly
- Add herbs, stir to combine.
- Put lettuce in a large salad bowl.
- Add 4 tbs dressing and toss well.
- Add potatoes, artichoke hearts and toss gently to combine.
- Top with salmon and avocado slices.
- Serve remaining dressing on the side.
Once again I have a mutant squash growing in my potager.
The first time it happened was 5 years ago and I posted about it here.
To sum it up briefly: some cucurbits (summer squash, winter squash, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, etc. can cross-pollinate with can cross pollinate with other cucurbits but not all of them. The fruits / vegetables produced the first year are fine but if you try to use the seeds you will get mutants the following year.
Like this:
I was given pumpkin seeds by my neighbor, who, as it turns out, was given the pumpkin by another friend from their potager.
He assured me that the pumpkin that produced the seeds was round and orange.
This is neither round nor orange.
It is, however, getting quite large.
As it happens to be in a corner by itself I’m going to let it mature and see what happens.
You know, if that mutant squash tastes great, you might want to keep the seeds and develop your own line 🙂
I got a bat house for my birthday this year. I’m still waiting for bats to come, but from everything I’ve read, it can take two or three years for them to find the house and set up a colony. I hope they come. Our county did road work two years ago and cut down most of the trees the bats used while they summered here. I haven’t seen many at all since then, so I’m really hoping they come back.
But even if it tastes fantastic, the seeds won’t produce the same thing next year – it will be a mutant from a mutant. A French friend told me how to get a bat out of the house: If it’s flying, open a window (I knew that) if it’s not flying, open a window, pick it up and throw it out. How simple! Apparently they are quite calm when picked up. Apparently they can’t take off easily if the are on the ground. Now I know!
Are these said mutant cucurbits edible ??
They’re edible – we just don’t know if we’ll want to…
This salad looks fantastic. The avocados available to us here are iffy right now, but I bet it would be almost as good without avocado. I really like the idea of new potatoes, artichoke hearts, salmon and dill….
( I cannot believe that those dogs haven’t learned to check for bats before closing the shutters!
Also, I am so envious of your mutant squash. I have zero mutant yellow zucchini – plenty of yellow zucchini male only blossoms though. And there has been only two striped zucchini that have developed – errrm, tried to develop – before dropping off the vine prematurely. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!)
Our avocados are good – but nothing like the ones we picked in Spain….
As to the squash – do you have bees? It sounds like the female flower isn’t getting pollinated. You could do it by hand…. Try not to get too excited by the prospect….