April  6 – 12, 2026

Monday:                  Sausage and White Bean Soup w/ Chard &  Skillet Croutons

Tuesday:                  Orecchiette with White Bolognese / kale apple gouda Salad

Wednesday:          PFC with David and Louise and Tim and Hilda (First Hole, looking back from the green uphill to the tee box)

Thursday:                Taverna Salad

Friday:                      Alta Via with Paul and Al and Fred and Mike

Saturday:                CCFS dinner (Above: me and my fellow nerds of the Central Catholic Forensic Society)

Sunday:                   Pulled Barbecued Chicken Sandwiches & Coleslaw

Conquered by Salads

Excerpt from Lewis Carroll’s “Father William,” which is hilarious – you should look it up and read the whole thing:

“You are old,” said the youth, “and your jaws are too weak

For anything tougher than suet

Yet you finished the goose with the bones and beak –

Pray, how did you manage to do it?”

“In my youth,” said his father, “I took to the law,

And argued each case with my wife,

And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,

Has lasted the rest of my life.”

When I was younger, we ate steak, not goose, once or twice a week.  Real steak, not filet mignon, the kind of meat you had to chew.  My father taught me how to grill a steak over hot charcoal, how to know when it was at the perfect stage of rareness and how to finish it with a bit of butter, salt and parsley.

Mom always made salads – but they were never more than healthy side dishes.  We ate well and we ate voluminously – how my parents were able to feed five ravenous boys is beyond me.  I remember helping my mother with the grocery shopping which meant, among other things, four gallons of milk on Saturday and another three on Wednesday.  In addition to regular meals we scarfed down bowls of cereal and cold milk at all hours of the night and day.  And we were skinny little monkeys, using our enormous caloric intake to perpetrate never-ending chaos and general anarchy.

Those, as they say, were the days.  But those days are over.  Steak is an expensive proposition even for people who have money, and salads have assumed a new position at the forefront of lunch and even dinner.  And last week we had a salad that required no further protein or crusty bread or anything else to fill our stomachs, our souls and our sense of delight in a solid and delicious meal.

I am still on a Lidey Heuck kick, working my way through her excellent cookbook.  I don’t know if you’ve had that experience – being grabbed by the appeal and the satisfaction of a specific cook’s way of putting ingredients and sauces and seasonings together.  The cookbooks I like have a personality to them – you can see, say, Jacques Pépin or Michael Symon or Lidey Heuck behind each dish. 

In that sense, some of the most useful cookbooks – the New York Times, Martha Stewart, even Julia Child’s The Art of French Cooking are not as satisfying.  They are like encyclopedia entries on, say, the American Revolution as compared to David McCullough’s excellent, 1776 – useful references, but not inspiring guides to feeding a hungry family in the coming week.  Lidey can help you do that, and the salad which is the subject of this week’s recipe, is simple and satisfying and, though you will think that you need something more than just this salad, is as complete a meal as anyone could ask for.  To the healthful, fine tastes of chickpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes and bell peppers, it adds toasted bits of pita and the amazing, cookable cheese of Greece – Halloumi.

Taverna Salad

(adapted from Lidey Heuck, Cooking in Real Life)

Timing:                                                      30 minutes

Ingredients:                           Serves 4 as a complete meal

3 medium tomatoes, cored, seeded and 1/2 -inch diced / or 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes (we used cherry tomatoes)

1 orange or yellow bell pepper, cored, ½-inch diced

Half of a large English cucumber, halved and ½-inch dice (1 ½ cups or so – note:  Lidey seeds the cucumber, we didn’t see the need)

1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives – ¼ cup chopped parsley – ¼ cup minced red onion or shallot

2 Tablespoons capers, drained and coarsely chopped – 2 scallions, thinly sliced

1 (6-inch) pita

1 ( 8 ounce) block Halloumi cheese, patted dry and cut into ¾-inch slices

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil – 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon minced garlic (we used garlic powder)

½ teaspoon dried oregano – Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Prep:

Dice the tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, chop the parsley and capers, mince the onion and slice the scallions.

Dry the Halloumi and cut into ¾-inch slices.

Assemble the Salad:

Make the dressing:  Combine the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, ½ teaspoon salt, and some grinds of black pepper and whisk vigorously.

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, chickpeas, bell pepper, cucumber, olives, parsley, red onion, capers and scallions.  Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well.

Chop the pita into 1-inch pieces and place in a bowl or on a plate.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and toss to coat.  Heat a small skillet over medium, then add the pita and cook, tossing frequently, until toasted and golden brown – maybe 6 minutes.  Return to the bowl to cool.  Reserve the skillet to cook the Halloumi.  Note: to save time you can use store-bought pita chips, but I wouldn’t.

Place the Halloumi slice on a small plate and drizzle with olive oil.  Heat the skillet over medium-high and then add the Halloumi and cook until golden brown – about 3 minutes per side.  Transfer to a cutting board and cut into bite-size cubes.

And the pita and Halloumi to the salad, toss well and serve.