June 4 – June 10, 2023

Sunday:                     Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Grilled Vegetables with mustard dressing

Monday:                   Leftover Pork Tenderloin, Watermelon Salad

Tuesday:                   Pittsburgh Field Club with Julie

Wednesday:            Grilled Brats, Peppers & Onions and Sweet Potato Black Bean Salad

Thursday:                 History Makers Dinner – Westin

Friday:                       Salade Niçoise

Saturday:                  Gazpacho

Salad Days

I seem to have been losing my carnivorous edge over the last few posts.  Beez has even observed a pronounced reduction in the Neanderthal-like ridge above my eyes.  Now, strictly speaking, these are not my ‘salad days’, according to Shakespeare, who wrote of “my salad days when I was green in judgment.”  On the other hand, alternative meanings are early period of ‘flourishing’ and ‘heydey’.  I am certainly not in my early flourishing so much as in my late withering.  But certain things in my life wax and wane on their own, independent of my increasing years and growing feebleness.  And a lot of them have to do with food.  And – God how I hate to break this to young people – one does find that as one enters the ‘golden years’* that salads and other lighter foods gain a bit on the heavier stuff.  So, hey, maybe these are my salad days after all.

*I have always understood this to be a retirement home advertising term – ‘hobbling years’ would be more like it.

If that’s not confusing enough, how about the fact that there are steak and chicken salads?  Or rice, barley, quinoa and corn salads?  And how can the chaos of a tossed salad exist in the same universe with the obsessive-compulsive structure of a composed salad?  And what about fruit salad – a category unto itself?

Well, I’ll leave you to ponder that.  As for Beez and me, we had two salads in the last week that can serve both as side dishes and main courses:  1.  The refreshing Watermelon and Feta Salad, full of flavor and, as our friend, Father Drew informed us last night, electrolytes.  [You might want to have a burger or a brat or a chicken cutlet along with this salad.]  2.  The rich and satisfying Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad, also useful as a side dish but plenty hearty as a main course.

Not only are these salads perfect for the hot weather, but they require a  minimum of activity from the cook.*  And that, along with the lightness of the food is always a welcome side benefit for the cook of a certain age.

*The one exception is cutting up a raw sweet potato.  This leads me to wonder if there were so few voluntary vegetarians in the past because only people who ate meat would have had the strength to dissect a sweet potato or lift a watermelon or deal with the sadness and tears that come with chopping onions.

Watermelon and Feta Salad

(adapted from Michael Symon)

 Timing:                                           20 minutes at most

Ingredients:

3 cups large diced red seedless watermelon (one of the ‘baby’ melons they sell in supermarkets these days, will do the trick)

½ cup diced English cucumber (we used a full cup, and if you like cucumber, you should too)

¼ cup finely sliced scallions

¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint

½ cup Greek feta cheese, crumbled

1 clove garlic, minced or grated – we substituted a shake or two of garlic salt

1 small fresno or jalapeno chile, seeded and minced

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (we used a little less – we like the acidity of vinegar)

Prep:

Dice the melon and cucumber and slice the scallions, then seed and mince the chile.

Make the dressing:

Combine the garlic, chile, olive oil and vinegar in a glass jar with a lid.  Season with salt and pepper, then add the mint.  Put the lid on and shake until combined.

Assemble the Salad:

Combine the watermelon, cucumber and scallions in a large bowl.  Pour on the dressing and toss to combine, then sprinkle the feta over salad and serve.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad

(adapted from ‘the roasted root’ blog) 

Timing:                                                  One Hour

Ingredients:

For the Sweet Potato Salad:

1 large sweet potato, scrubbed and chopped into chunks (1.3 lb  potato will do it,

I chopped into ¾ – ½ “ chunks

2 tbsp avocado oil (you might try canola or sunflower – avocado is best)

1 cup corn kernels (canned or frozen work)

1 cup black beans

½ cup red onion – halve an onion, then halve the half and thinly slice

1 red bell pepper, chopped

4-6 green onions, chopped

For the Dressing:

2 tbsp avocado oil

2 tbsp mayonnaise

3 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 small clove of garlic, minced

½ tsp sea salt – more to taste

Prep:

Preheat the oven to 350 F, then chop the sweet potato and the rest of the vegetables.

Drain the corn and the black beans and rinse with cold water.

Cook the Sweet Potato Chunks:

Put the sweet potato into a baking dish and add the avocado oil and the sea salt and toss.  Cook until the potatoes are cooked through – shake the baking dish or toss the potatoes with a spatula half-way through the cooking time – about 25 minutes.  Put the potatoes into a bowl and let them cool for 10 -15 minutes.

Make the dressing:

While the potatoes cook, combine the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and whisk, or put them into a jar with a lid and shake to emulsify.

Assemble the Salad:

Put the corn and black beans into a large mixing or serving bowl.  Add the red pepper, red onion and green onions.  Add the roasted potatoes to the bowl.

Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss with salad tongs until well combined and coated.  Add more salt, pepper or lime juice to suit your taste.

Serve.