ABC Salad — The Olive Oil Philosophy on a Plate

The real estate market is strong this week. I showed 3 properties and closed on 1. The pipeline is strong. The phone rings with the steady rhythm of a business that has taken six years to build and refuses to slow down.

Alexander called from USF this week. He is thriving and building a life with the quiet competence of a young man who watched his mother rebuild from nothing and decided that building is what Papadopouloses do. He still does not call Yia-yia enough. He never will.

I thought about Baba this week. Not the grief — the grief is always there, a familiar companion now — but the man. The way he stood at the bakery counter with his arms crossed. The way he hummed Greek songs he never knew the words to. The way he loved us in silence, which was the loudest love I have ever known.

I braised a lamb shoulder in red wine and herbs for four hours until it surrendered at the touch of a fork. Served over mashed potatoes. We ate at the kitchen table, just the two of us, and for a moment the house was not quiet or loud — it was exactly right. Full. Fed. The sound of forks on plates is the sound I love most in this world.

The olive oil in my kitchen is from a Greek import shop in Tampa that sources from Kalamata. It is expensive. It is worth it. I use it on everything — salads, fish, bread, vegetables, the edge of a pot of soup — because olive oil is not a condiment in this family, it is a philosophy. Use it generously. Use it without apology. Use it the way you use love: poured freely, never measured, always more than you think you need.

That lamb shoulder fed us in the way only a long, slow braise can — body and memory both — but what I keep returning to is what I said about the olive oil, because that is true every single night, not just the nights I cook for four hours. This salad is the thing I make in between the big meals, the quiet Tuesday version of the same philosophy: good olive oil, poured without apology, over something honest and fresh. Baba never measured anything either. That is not a coincidence.

ABC Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 cups chopped romaine or mixed greens
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced cucumber
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 3 tablespoons good-quality extra-virgin olive oil (do not measure too carefully)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Build the base. Place the chopped greens in a large serving bowl. Scatter the cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion evenly over the top.
2. Add the avocado. Dice the avocado just before serving and arrange over the salad so it holds its shape and color.
3. Dress it. Drizzle the olive oil over everything first — generously, the way you mean it. Follow with the lemon juice. Sprinkle the oregano, salt, and pepper over the top.
4. Finish with feta. Crumble the feta over the dressed salad. Toss gently once or twice so the dressing coats the greens without bruising the avocado.
5. Serve immediately. This salad is best eaten fresh, at the kitchen table, with good bread nearby and no particular hurry.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 185 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 10g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 210mg