salad for a summer evening

I've left Conrad sitting outside, reading the second Cadfael Omnibus. CG, if you're reading this, we've got him hooked!

A lovely evening, really. I like it when the nights cool off enough to make for comfortable dining on the balcony. It's been a little too warm during the days lately - I almost melted on my walk over to another campus building this afternoon. Ugh.

The memory of that spurred me to do minimal cooking tonight. I cut up napa cabbage, bok choy, red onion, cucumber, sugar peas, and cucumber. With this I tossed chicken breast meat I'd poached and some pan-toasted almond slivers. The dressing was a slightly hot, sweet, and salty sesame vinaigrette. It worked well for dinner, alongside a California Sauvignon Blanc, I think. Yes, you can get a similar thing at the Whole Foods salad bar, except mine was tossed with dressing right before serving, so it wasn't soggy. Also, I know exactly what went into mine.

And then we kicked back with books. I set out some raspberries, slices of a Spanish cheese, and some dark chocolate, and we read. As the light dimmed, I took some photos of the hazy evening.

Conrad is still out there, but the call of the Internet pulled me in. No matter, I feel relaxed enough - dinner accomplished what it was supposed to.