By The real estate market is strong this week. I showed 8 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.
Sophia is studying with an intensity that would concern me if it were directed at anything other than science. She talked about it at dinner for twenty minutes and I understood approximately half of it but all of the joy behind it.
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 made a cold tzatziki orzo salad — cooked orzo tossed with tzatziki, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and olives. Perfect for a night too hot for the oven. Sophia ate 1 servings and said nothing, which means it was good. Alexander ate 2 and asked for more. The pan was empty by nine. Empty pans are the highest form of flattery in this kitchen.
The weeks pass and I am learning that life at 52 is not what I expected at twenty-five. It is messier, harder, more beautiful. The moussaka is better because my hands have made it more times. The career is stronger because the failures taught me what the successes could not. And the love — the love I pour into every dish, every showing, every Sunday drive to Tarpon Springs — is bigger now because I have lost enough to know what it costs.
The cherry tomatoes in that orzo salad were doing so much heavy lifting — sweet, bright, a little acidic against the cool tzatziki — that I found myself thinking about them long after the pan was empty. If you have a pint of cherry tomatoes and fifteen minutes, this salsa is the recipe that earns its place on a hot-weather table without asking anything of the oven. Baba would have spooned it over everything. So do we.
Cherry Tomato Salsa
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Pinch of sugar (optional, to balance acidity)
Instructions
- Quarter the tomatoes. Slice cherry tomatoes in half and then again into quarters. Place them in a medium mixing bowl with any juices that collect on the cutting board — that liquid is flavor.
- Add aromatics. Add the diced red onion, minced jalapeño, and garlic to the bowl with the tomatoes. Stir gently to combine.
- Dress and season. Drizzle in the olive oil and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Taste and add a pinch of sugar if the tomatoes are on the tart side.
- Fold in the cilantro. Add the fresh cilantro and fold everything together until just combined. Do not over-stir — you want the tomatoes to hold their shape.
- Rest before serving. Let the salsa sit at room temperature for 5 minutes so the flavors can come together. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 35 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Carbs: 4g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 160mg