Heat-Free Meal

Or, What to Fix When Your Air Conditioner Quits Working in the Middle of a Heat Wave. I often find myself longing to own a little farm somewhere, away from “it all.” A place to grow veggies of my choice and raise a cow or some goats, a few chickens, if you know what I mean. (Weird, the song from “Green Acres” just popped into my head) However, there are two times when I never wish this; (1) when I look at the garden in the backyard and, (2) when a major appliance breaks down. Why? Because I am a tenant. And that garden full of wonderful veggies? My landlord does all the work, but shares all the proceeds with us. (He lives nearby, but isn’t allowed to have a garden in his highfalutin neighborhood) I mentioned this “work-free” garden a few posts back. And now you know. To top that off, he even pays the water bill during the summer. Yeah, I know. Who’d want to move away from that? And when things like air conditioners break down, I’m doubly glad I’m not a homeowner. I’m only affected by the heat, not the expense. For the heat, we were treated to a nice room at the hotel where my daughter is the GM. See, those college degrees come in handy, I’m tellin’ ya! But I have seriously digressed.

Even though the a/c got a temporary fix (with complete replacement coming Monday), it’s really struggling to keep up. Well, it’s not having any trouble keeping up with the outside temps! Right now it’s 98 outside (heat index is over 100) and 89 inside. I wasn’t expecting the house to stay so hot, so I was caught off guard for supper. What to do when it’s too hot to think of turning the stove on, yet going out to eat is saved for bigger emergencies than this? Salmon-salad-salad. No, there is no echo in here. It’s simply green salad topped with salmon salad. What with all those free veggies from the garden, it makes perfect sense.

Salmon-Salad-Salad

2 cans salmon
1/4 cup homemade mayo
1 small or 1/2 large diced cucumber
1 small onion, diced
2 small or 1 large ripe tomato, chopped
1 green bell pepper, sliced in thin strips
4 cups salad greens
1 ripe avocado
2 Tbs cashews, broken into pieces, (crispy a la Sally Fallon, optional)
2 Tbs pecans (ditto)
seasonings to taste

Place salad greens, cucumber, bell pepper, 1/2 the onion, and the tomato in a bowl and toss. Add seasonings. Drain salmon and place in a separate bowl. Add mayonnaise and avocado and mash until well mixed.

Add 1/2 the chopped onion and the nuts. Mix well and place large scoop on top of individual bowl of salad. Serve with some raw grass-fed cheese. Or whatever else you like. It’s basically a “whatever you have on hand” recipe.

Do you have any idea how much heat 2 computers in a small room can generate? More than I can handle! I’m off in search of a cooler spot. (Or a phone call to my daughter, the GM) 😉

This post is a (very late!) addition to Fight Back Fridays from Food Renegade.