I hate to throw out perfectly good ingredients just because I didn’t use them in a timely manner. So I am often forced to search for new recipes using ingredients I have on hand that should be used within minutes. These are ingredients that I had planned to use, had every good intention of using, but for whatever reason hadn’t gotten around to adding to the other dishes I actually did prepare. (I’m sure this has happened to you at least once in the years you have been playing around in the kitchen.) Sorry, I’m being facetious here! This happens to everyone regardless of how well we meal plan. Stuff happens. Unexpected dinner invitations. Casual invite and you can’t possibly serve your guests that tuna casserole you had planned for just you and your family. Or, you simply haven’t the strength to cook your evening meal so your wonderful spouse takes you out for dinner. That kind of “stuff”.

And at Chez Carr, it’s beginning to feel like the rule rather than the exception that at least one ingredient (usually a veggie) is going to sit in my refrigerator until it guilt trips me into doing something with it.

In this case, it was two veggies screaming at me from the veggie drawer. Half an English cucumber and 4 lonely radishes. While at the same time, a half container of crumbled feta cheese was also yelling its head off, so I really had my work cut out for me!

But Holly at the Spend with Pennies site saved my sanity with this recipe. (Well her recipe with my minor changes, that is.)

And oh my, did we enjoy this salad last evening! Mr. C. just couldn’t stop telling me how much he loved it. And I could not have agreed more. The salad had a lovely crunch from the cucumber, radishes, and onion. And the salty savory goodness from the feta cheese was just perfect in combination with the delicious salad dressing. The whole mix simply could not have been more delightful.

So next time you want a salad that can be made very quickly, using simple every day ingredients, this is the recipe for you. Cheers to your good health and to the salad days of August.

3 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 T. fresh lemon juice, or more to taste

1 T. white vinegar

½ tsp. sugar

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. dill weed

¼ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

4 c. chopped romaine lettuce  

2/3 c. crumbled feta cheese

½ English cucumber, partially peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced

4-6 radishes, halved and thinly sliced

scant ½ c. thinly sliced onion (red, sweet, or yellow)

Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, Dijon mustard, dill weed, salt, and pepper in a covered container. Shake like crazy. Set aside. 

Place the lettuce, feta cheese, cucumber, radishes, and onion in a large bowl.

Drizzle with dressing, toss, and serve immediately.