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.

Sometimes salad is the last dish I feel like preparing. Maybe that’s because cleaning the veggies and making the same old dressings are not very adventurous. And at my age, I need all the adventure I can get that doesn’t involve doing something illegal, immoral, or hurting myself or those around me.

So last evening when contemplating what to fix for our dinner salad, I decided I needed to change things up a bit. Also two things had to happen. I needed to use a bit of the kale growing in my backyard half wine barrel, and some of the basil overflowing a pot sitting on the counter of my outdoor kitchen. So I decided the kale should be one of the greens for our salad, and the basil should go into the salad dressing.

And if you are going to have greens and basil, it’s almost required that you have some tomato action going on. (Luckily I had some ripe cherry tomatoes in another half wine barrel just waiting to be plucked.) Then a forlorn shallot called out to me, and the rest is history.

The dressing recipe I found on the food and wine site. I changed their recipe just a tiny bit, but I have to say, this recipe is basically perfect. Easy to prepare and fantastically delicious.

You could also use this dressing simply drizzled over sliced tomatoes, in place of the olive oil and chopped basil in a caprese salad, or over any type of green salad. It would also be perfect as the dressing for a pasta salad. The possibilities are endless.   

So before summer is over and basil, tomatoes, kale, and romaine are only available at your local grocery store, treat yourself to this salad. Remember, these are our salad days. (OK, for some of us our salad days were technically over several decades ago. But we can still feel young at heart and enthusiastic about life, especially if we continue watching what we put in our mouth. And this salad just happens to be the epitome of healthy and pleasurable eating. Not only good for us, but delectable. And that my friends doesn’t happen that often!)

Enjoy!

• 1 small garlic clove, rough chopped
•  ¼ c. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 T. Champagne vinegar
• pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt, or more to taste
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 c. packed basil leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 heart of romaine, chopped
• 1 c. chopped kale, messaged (see below)
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 2-3 Campari or Roma tomatoes, sliced, de-seeded, and cut into bit sized pieces or about ¾ of a cup of halved cherry or grape tomatoes (really – just whatever tomatoes you happen to have on hand will do)

In a food processor, pulse the garlic, olive oil, vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper until smooth.  Add the basil and pulse until the basil is finely chopped. Set aside.

Place the cut romaine, massaged kale, sliced shallot, and tomato pieces (and whatever else strikes your fancy) in a salad bowl. Pour on the dressing and toss lightly. (You want all the veggies covered in the dressing, but you don’t want the tomatoes beat up!) Serve immediately.

Massaged Kale

Remove the fibrous ribs, wash, dry, and chop the kale into small pieces. Rub the kale pieces together with your fingers for about 2 minutes or until the leaves turn a darker color as the tough cellulose structure breaks down. Massaging kale actually eliminates the bitter taste making it a perfect green for almost any salad.