With the weekend hitting 60 degrees, I was pretending the warmth of August was here … claiming it was too hot to even think of turning on the oven, so I had to make a no-cook meal with all the peak ripe summer produce. Yeah, I was living in a fantasy world for all of 48 hours and it was lovely.
During my late-winter, summer fantasy, I made Ina Garten’s Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad — pretending the sad, hard tomatoes at the grocery store were the plump, juicy August ones I dream of. While the produce might not have been peak, this was just as good as I remember.
I love a chopped salad, and this one takes chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, canned chickpeas, and tosses them with scallions, parsley, basil, and mint, all dressed in a simple lemon vinaigrette and dotted with cubes of creamy, salty feta. Served with some warm pita, it was nice to pretend summer was finally here.
It was fun while it lasted … now that the snow has melted, we get to enjoy months’ worth of unclaimed dog poop on the sidewalks. I guess you have to take the wins when you can.
Book: How Easy Is That, page 101
Rating: 5/5
How Easy Is That – Skill Level: Easy
How Easy Is That – Time Involved: 15 minutes
Store-Bought Is Fine: feta cheese
Recipe on FoodNetwork.com
