Wednesday, August 20, 2008

 

Simple Greek Salad

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On one flawless Southern California morning, I dolled up and walked my self over to photographers heaven, Samy’s Camera.

Armed with the make and model of the camera I had meticulously researched scrawled on a slip of notebook paper, I was finally ready to commit.

Arriving on the 4th floor, my info was conveyed to the adorable sales clerk. The camera was procured. Price was confirmed and a credit card about to change hands.

It all seemed so easy. (Sigh)

But then, alas, a few questions were posed. A revelation was made. (That I take pictures of food.) A different camera was offered up. (Waterproof! Smaller! Not available in fashion-colors!) The transaction completed and I traipsed off with what turns out to be the most annoyingly lame and un-useable camera known to human kind.

Seriously kids, do you see those pictures? That is a sampling of a month’s worth of trying every silly setting on the thing. Here there and everywhere the camera has come out and failed me spectacularly.

Dishes have not been recorded, moments not captured, and sadness has settled in my heart due to a stringent no-return/no-exchange policy (and a vague hope it was just really me and not the camera.)

But then I realized something…a little something. I can still share recipes without photographic evidence and you will still love me.

Well, I hope so anyway!

So while I do my darndest to figure out this shamefully overpriced digital contraption, I shall leave you with a recipe for Greek salad.

And I leave the imagery of this perfect summer salad to you.

1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
Juice from 1 lemon
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, minced
½ teaspoon salt
A few grinds of black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup olive oil
½ medium red onion, sliced thin
2 English cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, thick slices
6 large tomatoes, each tomato cored and cut into wedges
¼ cup loosely packed torn fresh parsley leaves
20 large kalamata olives, each olive pitted and quartered lengthwise
¼ cup feta cheese, crumbled
2 hearts of romaine lettuce, chopped

Whisk together the first seven ingredients in a large bowl.

Add the sliced red onion and cucumber and toss; let stand 15 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and parsley to bowl with onions and cucumbers and toss to coat.

Divide lettuce on wide, shallow serving bowl or platter; top with vegetables, sprinkle olives and feta over salad. Serve immediately.

Makes enough for six to eight people.

© 2008 Fresh Approach Cooking
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© 2008 Rachael at "Fresh Approach Cooking" www.freshcatering.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at is guilty of infringing upon terms of copyright. And generally cheesing me off.

Are you coming to the Chicks with Knives
Sustainable Supper Club dinner?

More than 90 % of American wine production occurs on the West Coast. A large part of carbon-dioxide emissions associated with wine comes from simply trucking it from the vineyard to tables on the East Coast. A wine bottle holds 750 ml and generates about 5.2 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions when it travels from a vineyard in California to a store in New York. A 3-liter box generates about half the emissions per 750 ml. Switching to wine in a box for the 97 % of wines that are made to be consumed within a year would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about two million tons, the equivalent of retiring 400,000 cars. - NY Times

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Comments:
So I've got to ask, what camera did you want and what did you buy? I'm in the market for a new one.
 
LOL. I guess I should have mentioned that!

I ended up with a Pentax Optio W60, and I really want to think it is just me that can't take a decent shot. Cuz its one fancy camera!

What I wanted was a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3K. Just goes to show, should have listened to my instincts!
 
Same thing happened to me 2 years ago.

I nearly cried when the crappy camera I bought turned out to be utterly useless.

I have to say though that those images aren't bad...wish I could come to Chicks with Knives. It sounds fabulous...
 
NO RETURN POLICY????? What kind of crap is that?? I've never heard of that before, but maybe because I buy all my photo equipment through B&H in NYC. Shipping is cheaper than tax here in California, and they'll take anything back.

But the Greek salad sounds excellent!

p.s. Read your email!
 
Lucy - So tragic! And I wish you could come too! Thank you!

A.T. - The policy seems to be that I need the original box and the receipt, and then there is a steep "restocking" fee. Therefore...I'm stuck with it. Pout. My own fault for tossing the box I guess.
 
RSS & WIDGET
 
So many things to comment on....

first: i hate it when I have thrown away the packaging... If I thought it was going to be crap enough to warrant keeping the packaging for future return I would never have bought stupid item!!

second: I too, often convince myself it is me and not the product. This way I can still justify outrageous purchases, and I don't feel guilty about wasting money

thirdly: often it is me and not the product ;)

forthly: greek salad is the perfect recipe to come unaccompanied by photo

fifthly: we will indeed enjoy your blog anyway

nb when in doubt photoshop, it is how I deal with the dispaointments of my camera!
 
Hi Rachael,

In some of the images, it looked like it wanted to flash but took the picture with a slow shutter speed due to the lighting.

I shoot in manual to get those effects....However, since you are shooting food, keep the dial on automatic. You should be fine.

If not, it's a lemon. Mail it back to Pentax with the receipt in exchange for a new one.

And.......your salad sounds delicious. Me and my sisters favorite kind of salad!
Thx for sharing.
 
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