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I spent a lovely (but hot and humid) afternoon in a friend’s backyard plein air painting her lovely rhododendron bush. (See my oil painting in the last photo below.)

Meanwhile, her friend David whipped up the most dreamy salad with wonderful sautéed shrimp on top, perfected by a fabulous dressing he read about in the New York Times. It is not often people cook food for me that is as delicious or better than my own. This was really a treat and I wanted to be able to replicate it so I asked for the recipe. David sent me the directions as stated below. Thanks again!

Fabulous Dressing:

Juice of half a lemon

one clove garlic crushed

one inch of ginger grated

two tablespoons of plain yogurt

salt to taste.

Combine and whisk. Depending on your taste buds I add more lemon and ginger.

Salad: cucumbers, red onion, red bell pepper, mache, mint , cilantro, seeds.

Pick a festive platter, mix salad with dressing, add seeds (I use roasted nuts or sesame) and drizzle some Virgin olive oil on top.

Yum!

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