Farewell to Summer Salad

Goodbye Summer, hello Fall! It's official now!

Even though temperatures have gone down in Austin and an autumnal air is slowly but surely  settling in, we are still very much in an between weather stage.  Before we enter this beautiful season, in which I predict lots of delicious and comforting dishes, soups and desserts, I thought it would be great to make a farewell to Summer salad.  

I just cut two very good heirloom tomatoes, red onion, a cucumber and some good quality Feta cheese. I try to cut all three ingredients at the same size. I especially like big pieces of Feta, not crumbled. Chopped up some chives and dill. For a vinaigrette, I mixed fresh lemon juice and olive oil. Sprinkled some fleur de sel and pepper.

It's very refreshing and full of flavors. I think I might make it again to take on a picnic this weekend, to enjoy the fact that we are finally somewhat able to stay outside and not melt! I will buy some mortadella and (excellent) fresh bread at Mandola's Market and head to a park with Juan (who I hope will feel better by then). 

Stay tuned, for my favorite vegetable soup recipe, for all of you sick with a cold (and I know there are many of you) out there...

Maximum Simplicity, Minimum Labor

Eating out all the time (read every lunch and dinner for 7 days) can really become plain vanilla after a while.   One week as a tourist in Boston and Cape Cod made me long for no-brainer meals. Don’t get me wrong, we took advantage of all the fresh amazing seafood (hello lobster!) and fantastic Italian cuisine over there; we had picnics on the beach in Cape Cod; we even went to a local supermarket near our hotel in Copley to stock on a few local items for breakfast.

But it felt good to sit down at our dining table again, back home, finally in control of what goes in our plate. With all the unpacking that needs to be done and getting back into the groove, we decided on a very basic meal. Maximum simplicity, minimum labor.  So I fixed a plate of cold assorted ingredients (well, I had to grill some chicken and boil one potato, but we still ate them cold!). 

 

The no-brainer lazy dinner (for 2)

1 breast of chicken

1 small potato

1 mini seedless cucumber

1 medium tomato

1 avocado

1 package of precut cantaloupe

2 thin slices of Prosciutto

Store bought Tzatziki

Small balls of fresh mozzarella

Drizzle some olive oil on the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Broil in the oven or grill, until cooked. Set aside and let it cool.

Peel the potato, boil until tender and let completely cool.  Slice in quarters.

Peel the cucumber and cut in sticks. Slice the tomato in quarters (I used heirloom tomatoes).  Cut the avocado in two, remove the pit, and slice each half in thirds.

Cut the slices of Prosciutto in half. Wrap each slice around a piece of cantaloupe (I counted 2 pieces of cantaloupe per person).

Arrange all these ingredients on individual plates and serve with store bought Tzatziki and small balls of fresh mozzarella. Serve with Fleur de Sel and fresh bread.

Other ingredients could include: grilled asparagus, shrimp, hard-boiled egg, hummus, radishes, fresh goat cheese, smoked salmon.