Salad good. You eat.

Writing is a funny thing. Sometimes things flow so naturally, and I feel satisfied that I wrote something that someone somewhere would actually enjoy reading. Other times, like today, everything I write reads like a caveman with very little use of the English language.

Grunt. Iowa. Grunt. Outdoor play. Scratch. Must make tasty salad for Husband to eat. Must beat my chest and grunt louder. Me hate Geico.



You get the idea. Today, I'm forcing myself to write even when I don't feel inspired, eloquent or even remotely clever. I don't feel like a writer today. Today, though, I am someone who is inspired by food and friends. And it is on these things I will concentrate and hopefully the words will follow.

On a recent beautiful Thursday night, I had assembled a small group of non-caveman friends to caravan to a local outdoor venue to watch "To Kill a Mockingbird" done by local actors. While I love outdoor events, what I love even more is preparing food for these outdoor events. I am not ashamed to say that it is probably even the reason I love outdoor events. Lounging in canvas chairs, sipping wine from plastic cups and fighting off bugs and sleep....ah, the beautiful things of outdoor shows.

I often find my mind wandering during these outdoor events I love. I am an observer of food, looking for ideas for my next picnic. I am an observer of people and conversations as being packed in like sardines makes for new friends albeit for that night only. I enjoy watching the sky slowly darken with stars popping up around me and insects chirping in with their nightly rituals. I savor the food that seems to taste better in the fresh summer air. I embrace the experience not just the entertainment that is set in front of me.

For this event, Husband gave me an idea of a salad that sounded tasty to him so I took his idea and ran with it. What developed is what I'm calling my Summer Mockingbird Salad. It is basically an antipasto salad. Antipasto literally means "before the meal" in Italian and is typically the first course of a formal Italian meal. It often consists of cured meats, olives, cheeses, artichokes, etc. I just put them all together in one bowl and made it a salad.

It's for all cave people. You eat. You like.

Summer Mockingbird Salad
(serves 4 as a main dish or 8 as a side)

This recipe calls for spicy capicola and prosciutto. You can pretty much do any cured or cooked meat you would like. The second time I made this I used a mixture of prosciutto and pastrami.

Salad:
2 cans quartered unmarinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped coarsely
1 cup large marinated olives, pitted (I like a variety of kalamata & green olives)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 cup cherry tomatoes
3 oz spicy capicola, sliced into 1-2 inch pieces
1.5 oz prosciutto, sliced into 1-2 inch pieces
1/2 cup Romano cheese, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried basil
4 cups baby arugula (could also use spinach or any baby greens)

Dressing:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp good balsamic vinegar (I like fig & nut, but any will do. Balsamic aged over 6 years is considered the best.), plus extra for drizzling
2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients except for arugula in a large bowl. Mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well. Pour over salad and gently mix. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Place arugula on a plate. Drizzle lightly with extra balsamic vinegar and lightly salt & pepper. Spoon salad on top.