Mixed Greens with Orange-Ginger Vinaigrette

The last expander fill was Monday. Done. Full. Dr. Kendall looked at the results and said, "Beautiful." She doesn't use that word casually — she's a surgeon, precision is her language — so when she says beautiful, she means it. The stage two surgery — permanent implant exchange — is scheduled for October. One more surgery. One more recovery. And then I'm done. Rebuilt. Reconstructed. The body I lost will be replaced by the body I chose, and the choosing will be complete.

I stood in the bathroom that night and looked at myself in the mirror. Really looked. The expanders give me shape — not the shape I had before, not the shape nature gave me at fourteen, but shape. Contour. The silhouette of a woman who has breasts, even if the breasts are temporary (expanders) and will be replaced (implants) and are not "real" by any definition except the one that matters: they're on my body, and my body is mine. I looked at myself and I didn't cry. I didn't look away. I stood there and I looked and I said, out loud, to no one: "Hello again." And I meant it.

Lily turned five on August 2 (next week), but we did her riding birthday party this Saturday at Sunshine Stables. Eight girls, eight helmets, two horses (Daisy and Copper), and Janet leading pony rides while Lily supervised from atop Copper like a tiny monarch surveying her subjects. The party was outdoors, in the arena, and the Idaho heat was ferocious, but Lily didn't notice because she was on a horse and a horse is the only thing in the world that matters when you are Lily Wilder and you are about to turn five.

I made a horse cake. Brown frosting, mane piped in dark brown, candy eyes, a fondant tail. It was better than last year's version (practice improves all things, including horse cakes). Lily looked at it and said, "That's Daisy!" It was not Daisy. It was a cake shaped vaguely like a horse. But Lily saw Daisy, and what the birthday girl sees is what it is.

New recipe #21: grilled peach salad. Halved peaches, grilled until caramelized, served over arugula with goat cheese and balsamic reduction. A recipe I found in a magazine at the dentist's office, torn out, brought home, and made that same weekend because the peaches at the farmers market were perfect and perfect peaches wait for no one. The salad was extraordinary — sweet, sharp, creamy, charred — and it was so far from anything Diane Dawson would recognize as food that I felt a small thrill of rebellion, the thrill of a ranch girl who has learned that salad can be a meal and goat cheese is not an act of betrayal.

The peach salad was recipe #21, and what I kept thinking about as I made it was how strange and right it felt — how a ranch girl from Idaho ends up standing at a farmers market choosing arugula and goat cheese like she was born to it. That thrill of small rebellion is exactly what this salad carries, too: bright citrus, sharp ginger, tender greens that feel nothing like the meat-and-potato table I grew up at. The week I finally looked in the mirror and said “hello again” deserved a meal that was equally unfamiliar and luminous. This one delivered.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

8 cups mixed salad greens (such as arugula, spinach, and spring mix)
1 navel orange, peeled and segmented
1/2 cup sliced cucumber
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 small garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the orange juice, rice wine vinegar, honey, grated ginger, and minced garlic until combined. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking continuously until the dressing is emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.
Prep the greens. Wash and dry the mixed greens thoroughly. Place them in a large salad bowl.
Add the toppings. Arrange the orange segments, sliced cucumber, and red onion over the greens. Scatter the toasted almonds on top.
Dress and serve. Drizzle the orange-ginger vinaigrette over the salad just before serving — start with half and add more to taste. Toss gently to coat, or serve with dressing on the side. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Mixed Greens with Orange-Ginger Vinaigrette — The Ranch Girl Who Learned Salad Can Be a Meal