We had another couple and their kids come to dinner tonight. I had big plans, but ended not being able to pull it all together. After hearing the NPR story the other morning about the “Mediterranean diet”, I got out my Cretan cook book and started thinking about focusing on greens, herbs and lots of olive oil.

We ended up with grilled snapper wrapped in grape leaves, heirloom tomato and mediterranean cucumber salad, gold and chioggia beets with fennel and feta cheese, grilled then sauteed shiitoke and chanterelle mushrooms, grilled summer squash, a mix of sauteed dandelion, beet greens, and swiss chard, tzatziki with mint, roasted yukon golds with sage, and some nice wines.

It turned out to be enough food, but I really wanted to break out my dad’s old meat grinder and grind some meat for dolmas and kabobs. That was an inspiration that came from a dinner we were invited to last weekend. Alas, I ran out of time.

There’s always next weekend.