By Week 436. Summer 2024. I am 41 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like grilled food and garden herbs and this is my life. This is the life I built.
The clinic was busy this week — spring puppies and summer emergencies and the constant, comforting cycle of animals who need care and humans who love them enough to bring them in.
Mason is 13 and navigating middle school with the quiet competence that has always been his way — focused, kind, certain of who he is in a way that took me thirty years to achieve.
Lily is 11 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.
I made grilled steak with chimichurri this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.
The steak had been resting and the chimichurri was already bright and sharp-smelling on the counter, and I needed something clean and green to pull the whole plate together — something that felt like the garden, like summer, like a table worth sitting down at. This salad has been with me through so many of those outdoor dinners under the string lights, the kind of meal where the food is simple enough that you can actually taste the evening around you. It’s called a company salad, and lately, the company I’m most grateful for is exactly the one I’ve got.
Company Green Salad
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 8 cups torn romaine lettuce
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives
- 1/4 cup croutons
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar until fully emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Prep the vegetables. Wash and dry the romaine thoroughly. Tear into bite-sized pieces and add to a large salad bowl. Add the cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, red onion, shredded carrots, and black olives.
- Dress and toss. Drizzle the dressing over the salad just before serving. Toss gently until all the greens and vegetables are lightly coated.
- Add croutons and serve. Scatter croutons over the top and bring to the table immediately. This salad is best served fresh — do not dress it in advance or the greens will wilt.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 105 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 9g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 280mg