A Fabulous Summer Salad (or Entree) by Margo Elfstrom

Ever go to the store and buy things just because?  When at Whole Foods, I saw a carton of apricots.  They were so pretty and looked so juicy that I had to have them.  I can admit to being a hedonist and as an artist, I eat with my eyes, long before food ever makes it to my mouth.  What I wound up with was a box of apricots that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with.  I did eat two and enjoyed the tart, sweet flavors as the juice trickled down my chin, however, I looked at the left over lovelies and realized that I still had eight or nine more to use.

I can admit that lately, I’ve binged on lovely peach tartlets, peach ice cream and some other not so diet friendly foods as of late.  My conscience is stinging me just a little because a few weeks ago, after dieting like a maniac and working out daily, I donned a bikini.  Having met that goal, I decided to literally and figuratively let it all hang out and gained a few pounds back.  Today, I decided to put some salve on my pride and make a salad.  OK so it does contain noodles…bad carbs….Mea Culpa!

I can also admit to fantasizing about being on a cooking show, sweating and cursing under my breath as I open a box and find a bunch of mismatched ingredients that I have to throw together as an appetizer, entree or dessert.  The idea tingles nicely up my spine and lodges in my brain, right in that area where my inner perfectionist lives.  That perfectionist has a competitive nature and want to believe that no one knows about her but me.  The truth is, she’s probably pretty apparent to most people and maybe it’s time to work on making my inside match my outside.  Instead of trying to stuff her down into my subconscious, I think I’m going to give her a big inner hug and let her loose (with some restraints).  Who knows, maybe she’ll be useful at some point.

With that in mind, I opened my fridge and rummaged through to see what I could use, pretending the whole time that my fridge was a box of ingredients and one of the mandatory ingredient was apricots.  What I emerged with was asparagus, some shrimp and some lettuce, all of which were begging to be used.  So far, this was a much easier challenge than anyone on ‘Chopped’ would face.

The salad that resulted was delectable and hit the spot.  My perfectionistic tendencies purred with satisfaction and my inner hedonist sighed with pleasure.  I’m thinking of introducing them, they might balance each other out and become great friends….after all, they’re kind of neighbors and who doesn’t love a perfectionistic, hedonist with competitive tendencies.  May not necessarily make the world a better place but it’ll certainly make it more interesting.  Love to muse on the subject further but can’t write any more, busy eating….Enjoy!