Potato, pea and mint salad

My mint, growing in a half barrel near the chook house, is flowering right now. I love the smell as I brush past to open the gate.

The purple potato plant is flowering now too. I have them growing in a pot by the veggie patch. Next time I'll put them in a bigger pot I think, it's as easy as tipping out the pot when they are ready and not digging to look for them. I've just topped up the pot with some composted sheep poo.

Potato, pea and mint salad

1 kilogram of pototoes, chopped into 2cm chunks, with the skin still on(you could use baby ones here.
3/4 cup frozen peas

Dressing
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup greek yoghurt
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 good tablespoon finely chopped mint

Cook the potatoes in salted water, for about 10 minutes or until are just soft enough to get a knife through. Leave to cool.

Cook the peas(you could do this in a steamer while the potatoes boil).Let cool.

Mix the dressing ingredients together and stir through the cold potato and peas.

You could add other ingredients like radishes, carrot,celery or ham of you like, even swap out the spuds for pasta to make your own version.

Added to flaunt your flowers at Tootsie Time

Santolina - The olive herb

I found this little beauty a few weeks ago; I'd never heard of it before this herb caught my eye at Plants Plus. After I crushed the leaves between my fingers and had a whiff, I had to have it.

It's Santolina rosmarinifolia, the olive herb. It really smells and has the flavour of olives.

I made foccacia last week and used this chopped up on top before I baked it. I chopped it up with parsley and basil mint and put it in the pasta sauce on Tuesday. 

It would probably be awesome in a salad dressing too, used to flavour meats or sprinkled atop a pizza. Saves the fussy kids screwing their noses up and picking off the black bits of olive, what they can't see won't hurt them.

It is a welcome and useful new herb in my garden. In late Summer it comes out with small yellow button flowers, and grows up to 50 cm high.