Greek Salad (p.248)

We felt like a light lunch today. We had some cherry tomatoes and romaine, and my mind went to a Greek or Turkish salad. Since it was Saturday, a trip to the farmers market in Del Ray sounded like a good solution. We found some fantastic Persian cucumbers that were perfect for this. We think we like them even better than hothouse cucumbers. No seeds, no waste, delicious. Add feta, kalamata olives, and a fresh herbed dressing and yum!

I admit that I did not follow the recipe exactly. I did not have roasted red peppers packed in oil, and I opted to use some shallot instead of red onion because I knew the flavor would be mild. Because it’s early in the season, I used some fresh oregano from the herb garden but opted not to take too much off the plant. I added some dried oregano to taste to the dressing to get it to the right place. We microplaned the garlic, which was great. There was nothing particularly tricky, and it’s a very typical dressing. But if you don’t have a Greek dressing in your head, this does the trick. I think the secret ingredient was mint.

Oh. And Bruce wanted radishes (good addition) and a cornichon (bad choice).

Smashed Potatoes (p.310) & Sautéed Snow Peas (p.311)

Playing catch-up here. We made two more dishes a week ago: Smashed Potatoes (p.310) and Sautéed Snow Peas with Lemon and Parsley (p.311). They were both excellent. Nothing tricky to report. The potatoes really would serve 4. The snow peas we thought should be made with a pound of peas. Also, the peas were good cold to snack on; wonder if they would be a good salad portion as a leftover.

This is the finished meal with a freshly baked chicken (spatchcocked, of course).  Mmmm.