Malign me no more

Greek salad. Say those words to dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers and they will be met with a shrug or a cringe. There are a few dishes in the history and lure of New York have received such a mediocre wrap: Not because they are truly mediocre, but because pizzeria's all over chose to make them in that fashion, thus scarring the memories and palates of the natives for all time.

Oh, they were sorry piles of wilted iceberg with canned olives carelessly tossed with thinly shaved yellow onions and a couple of mushy pink-hued tomatoes. All this finery was doused liberally with red wine vinegar and vegetable oil. These so-called salads looked like decomposing remains from better iceberg in days gone by. They no more appealed to the palate than two week old sliced lemons.

Grocery stores and even the old pizzeria's in New York have come along way since then. Good news for anyone who is preggers and cannot, cannot tolerate the smell of cooking, or cooked food, no?

Greek Salad
8 servings

6 cups hearts of romaine, cut into bite-sized pieces
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 cup kalamata olives, pitted
2 English cucumbers, peeled and cut into medium dice
3 roma tomatoes, cut into medium dice
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into medium dice
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup best quality extra virgin olive oil
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Place the romaine in a large salad bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add to the romaine the olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Drizzle the olive oil and lemon juice evenly over the top and toss gently to coat. Fold in the feta cheese gently. Serve.