Ingredients:

Directions:

Slice melons in half horizontally. Cut around the edges and cut inside of melon into a grid shape to cube it up. You should then be able to scoop out the cubes pretty easily with a spoon. Cut any large pieces in half and add melon to a large bowl. Cut cucumber in half lengthwise, cut in half again, and then slice each quarter into pieces about 1/4 inch thick. Add to bowl. Add lime juice and basil to the mixture and toss to combine. Scoop melon mixture back into hollowed out melon halves (you may need to drain extra juices out of the melons - I added my extra melon juices to some tonic water with a squeeze of lime for a fun treat!). Top each melon bowl with 1/8 cup of crumbled feta.

I suppose it's time for a 2015 Spring Garden Update. I feel like this has really been an ideal spring for gardening. The snow stopped in a timely fashion. We've had a few hot days, plenty of rain and generally weather on par for the season. I started my tomato seeds (and a few others) indoors in March and they are about a foot tall now. I thought about planting them in the past couple of weeks since it has been so warm, but once I saw we are expecting a low in the 30s this week, I decided to hold off. I don't want to shock them with cold shortly after transplanting. I have set them outside a couple of times to try to harden them off. One of the days was super windy, though, and two of my seedlings that I had growing in 2 liter bottles flipped over. I thought they were done for. I set them back up and tried to set them against a support for the rest of the day. Guess what happened. These two little tomato plants have grown into my biggest and strongest seedlings! For me, that was a good reminder, not only about the importance of exposing seedlings to the elements, but also about life -- how the trials we go through can serve to strengthen, grow and mature us, as we stay grounded in our faith and don't allow ourselves to be uprooted. So there you have it, the first life lesson from this year's garden.

 Tom has been on a bit of a health kick recently, and he has told me that he wants to start eating more healthfully.  Since I am usually the one cooking dinner, that meant I had to think through my usual menus and try to cut out some of the recipes that call for a lot of fatty foods -- like greasy Mexican dishes and cheese slathered everything.  The other night, I thought about making some bruschetta, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to put with it to make it a meal.  Then I had a thought: why not turn it into a salad?  So, I did.  Here's roughly what I ended up doing:

Directions:

Toss all of the vegetables together and top with fresh mozzarella, basil and pine nuts.  Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over top, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.