Greek Salad
It is wonderful to be back in the kitchen during tomato season. Even with a sparsely producing garden, there are ingredients to match my energy level without completely overwhelming me.
My temptation in these times– as during the weeks of chemotherapy with their rise and fall in energy level due to steroids and the effects of the chemotherapy– is to push to get things done and be ambitious in feeding mind, body, spirit… I want to write and I want to read and think about what I’ve been reading and I want to clear out the weedy garden beds and dig the potatoes and clean and store everything. I also want to visit people! I’ve had so many invitations to social engagements since announcing my “extra time” before surgery. I find I can only do one “big” thing a day, and often that has been a long, long, wonderful lunch with someone I haven’t seen in months.
So I often don’t have much energy left when it is dinner time. I’m trying to keep it simple. Every few days we have enough cucumbers for a cucumber salad with yogurt, sour cream, and dill. Dried dill from last year’s garden now that the dill plants are dead. I could eat a caprese salad with chopped tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella and olive oil every day, so as long as we have fresh mozzarella, that is on the menu.
Even the tomatillos are sparse. There are a lot of them but they just aren’t filling out and bursting their husks. But there are a few. One night when I was looking for a corn/tomato relish to go with scallops, I found something even better that I want to share here: tomatillo guacamole. I quickly forgot about the corn relish.
The tomatillo guacamole is so bright and citrusy and fresh, a perfect accompaniment to fish. It would also be great over some simple enchiladas. Or with chips. Or a dollop in chicken chili or chicken tortilla soup. We had the scallops with the guac and orzo, tomatoes just drizzled with oil and topped with basil, and leftover green bean, lentil and corn salad. Later I had the guacamole with the leftover orzo, which was also good! Here’s the link to the original at kitchn.com.
Tomatillo Guacamole
1 avocado, halved and pitted
1/2 pound tomatillos, husked and coarsely chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
1 small shallot, coarsely chopped
1/2 1 jalapeño, seeded and coarsely chopped (to taste)
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
salt to taste
Combine the ingredients in the bowl of a small food processor and pulse until well blended. And if you know me by now, you know I used a teaspoon of cilantro chutney in place of the cilantro leaves. I think I had 6 tomatillos, probably less than 1/2 pound. I skipped the shallot, too.
Tonight, I made an easy Greek Salad. I had a mix of beautiful cherry tomatoes thanks to my friend and seed saver Scott Pauley. He’s growing 17 types of tomatoes this year, and I got some large, beautiful yellow grape tomatoes streaked with red from his garden. I had Supersweet 100s (the standard cherry) and also Mexican grape tomatoes (Scott gave me the seed last winter when we did our annual exchange).
I also remembered good old Patricia Wells. I have so many fancy cookbooks, now that the farm-to-table seasonal eating craze has taken off. But I still love Patricia Wells’ Salad as a Meal. This is the book I looked to when I wanted to store roasted peppers and to pickle jalapeno peppers. I also look to it to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything in a Salad Nicoise or Greek Salad. All you really need for Greek salad is tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese and olives. To the one below you could also add red onion and other things. I had a nearly finished bottle of capers I tossed into the mix. I couldn’t remember the dressing ingredients so I consulted Patricia Wells– and learned she makes hers with lemon juice and olive oil, no vinegar. I added half a squeezed lemon, but still used a little white wine and white balsamic vinegar (no red in the house).
Greek Salad
mix of cherry and grape tomatoes, cut in half or quarters
2 medium cucumbers, ends trimmed then peeled and slices cut in fourths (It reduces the chance of bitterness to cut the ends off first. I like my cucumbers peeled in strips with some skin left intact.)
seedless olives (I usually have Kalmata on hand from Trader Joe’s) halved
1 red pepper diced
capers if you like them
feta cheese
dressing of red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt and olive oil, whisked together and poured over the salad
torn basil leaves or fresh oregano added to the bowls when serving
This is enough for a meal on a hot summer evening. But Steve is a landscaper, so we ate this with some reheated chicken thighs from a barbecue last week. It would have been good with tortellini added right to the salad.
And for those nights when we have some zucchini or summer squash, zoodles or a simple saute still does the trick!
