Fast, But not Fast Food

The weather is so hot, I'm into whatever edibles are quick and easy. Here, I definitely do not mean "Fast Food", so called. By way of another blog, I linked to Michael Pollan's recent NY Times article on the subject, "Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch", which was entertaining as well as excellent. Most TV cooking shows are all about keeping viewers and selling product, not really about encouraging us to cook food ourselves. However, I did disagree with one statement, he makes: "yet all American women now allow corporations to cook for them whenever they can." Mr. Pollan needs to read some of the thousands of food blogs floating around the internet. We have proven that idea wrong, many times over.

This was my lunch yesterday. Since it was so colorful, tangy and downright tasty, and being a blogger, of course I had to take it's picture. The Summer Salad took less than 5 minutes tops to assemble. I started by dumping into a salad bowl the following:

Fast and Easy Summer Salad

1 cup of cooked, marinated, cold white beans
1 handful of arugula leaves
3-4 cloves pickled garlic (or to taste)
3 or 4 halved Kalamata olives
5 or 6 cherry tomatoes (or a sliced larger one)
Ricotta or Feta crumbled on top
Toss all together

Yes, it does help to have a jar of your own beans marinating in the fridge. And, pickled garlic, but you get the idea - whatever you do have pickling or marinating will likely work. I had just made another batch of Feta and Ricotta, but that's usually a staple anyway. Great on a hot summer day, or for dinner in a larger amount with some fresh bread.