By Week 378. Summer 2023. I am 40 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 12 and reading everything he can find and examining the world under a microscope with the intensity of a tenured researcher.
Lily is 10 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.
I made grilled peach salad 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 peaches came from the farmstand down the road, the same one I’ve stopped at a hundred times, and throwing them on the grill felt exactly right for a week like this — quiet, warm, and full of small good things. I didn’t want anything complicated. I wanted something that honored the ordinary beauty of standing in that kitchen, with Mason reading in the next room and Lily smelling like horses and sunshine, and knowing that this — this steady, unremarkable Tuesday — is exactly the life I fought for. This salad was it.
Pear Salad
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 6 minutes | Total Time: 16 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 ripe pears (or peaches), halved and pits removed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 oz mixed spring greens or arugula
- 1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola or feta cheese
- 1/4 cup candied or toasted walnuts
- 1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat the grill. Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush the cut sides of the pears with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Grill the fruit. Place pears cut-side down on the grill and cook for 3–4 minutes, until grill marks appear and the fruit softens slightly. Flip and grill 1–2 minutes more. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, then slice into wedges.
- Build the salad. Arrange the greens on a large platter or in a wide salad bowl. Top with grilled pear slices, crumbled cheese, toasted walnuts, and red onion.
- Dress and serve. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately while the pears are still slightly warm.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 210 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 220mg