Irish Flag Salad — A Side of Color for the Nights That Ask for Comfort

Week three of radiation. Sean is fatigued. His teaching has been cut back — he is doing one class, twice a week, and skipping the third day. His department chair covers for him. Sean is tired. He naps in the afternoon for two hours. He eats small meals. He has not lost weight, which is a small victory, because the soup and the mashed potatoes and the gentle foods are holding him.

Liam has chosen his Halloween costume. Not the fire truck this year. This year it is a firefighter. Full kit — helmet, jacket, pants, ax, oxygen pack. He has decided. The preschool parade is at the end of the month. Sean's father shipped Liam a real Boston Fire Department T-shirt from Sean Sr., and Liam has worn it every day this week over or under other clothes. He has declared himself a firefighter. My father is the happiest I have seen him in six weeks. He called me Monday night just to say "Kate. Is he really going as a firefighter." I said yes. He said "I am proud." He hung up. Sean Sr. does not talk long on the phone. That was a long call by his standards. It was grief-displacing. He is processing his son-in-law's illness by radiating affection onto his grandson, which is a healthy choice, and I have not interrupted it.

Nora is a pumpkin. That is her declared identity for Halloween. She has a pumpkin costume (a hand-me-down from a neighbor of my mother's). She wears it around the house twice a day. She says "pumpkin." She is pumpkin-pilled, as Meghan said when I told her. Meghan makes me laugh. I am grateful.

I made mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner Wednesday. Sean had been craving comfort. I made a pot roast. I made mashed potatoes the way my mother makes them — cream and butter and salt, no secret, just the correct ratio of each. Gravy from the pan drippings. Sean ate a full plate. He ate a piece of soda bread with it. He ate second serving of potatoes. For the first time in two weeks his appetite was back. I know this will not last steadily. Appetite goes up and down. I celebrated this night.

I studied for ninety minutes after dinner. The pharmacology module. I have a test in two weeks. I will pass it. I am doing the work.

Linda brought us a casserole Friday. She did not ask. She rang the bell at 5. She had a pan. She handed it over. She said "put it in the fridge. Heat it at 350 for thirty minutes." She said "don't thank me. I have been making too many casseroles for nobody." She left. The casserole was spectacular. Chicken and wild rice. We ate it for two days.

That Wednesday dinner — the pot roast, the soda bread, the second serving of potatoes — reminded me that a good meal can do something medicine can’t always do on its own. I’ve started thinking about color on the plate, about brightness alongside the soft and the warm, something that honors the Irish thread running through this family without making a production of it. This Irish Flag Salad is exactly that: green, white, and orange, easy enough to pull together on a school night, festive enough to feel intentional on a hard week.

Irish Flag Salad

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

Ingredients

• 3 cups chopped romaine or green leaf lettuce
• 1 cup shredded white cabbage
• 1 large carrot, peeled and shredded or julienned
• 1/2 cup sliced cucumber
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/2 cup mandarin orange segments (fresh or canned, drained)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper until well combined. Set aside.
2. Arrange the layers. On a large platter or in a wide shallow bowl, lay down the green lettuce as the base. Add a center band of shredded white cabbage. Arrange the shredded carrot and mandarin orange segments on the far side to create the orange layer — green, white, orange, like the flag.
3. Add the accents. Scatter the sliced cucumber and green onions across the top of the salad.
4. Dress and serve. Drizzle the dressing evenly over the salad just before serving. Toss gently at the table or serve arranged and let guests mix their own portions.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 95 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 9g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 160mg