Bread, Wine, Salt

More than once I have gotten within half an hour of dinner time and had no idea what I was going to do about dinner. Nothing was planned, and I could not mentally survey my pantry and compound something easy. On days like that, there are only two ways to avoid a restaurant: spaghetti or having something in the fridge that I can scoop into bowls and call dinner. In the winter time that something is soup, but in the summertime it's tabbouleh or this easy to assemble salad. It also travels well to potluck lunches. photo by Rich Renomeron 2 cans black beans, rinsed OR 2.5 cups cooked blacked beans OR 1 ¼ cups dried black beans 16 ounces frozen corn (or fresh if you can get corn picked that day) 1 jalapeño pepper (optional) ¼ cup olive oil 2 bunches scallions 1 bunch cilantro 5 medium tomatoes OR a pint of cherry tomatoes juice of 2 limes salt and black pepper to taste If you're starting with dried beans, cook beans until tender . Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baki...

I went to the pool to swim laps early this morning. Swimming laps first thing in the morning is for people who are serious about swimming. By the time I got into the pool at 6:15 the lap lanes were full. I observed the swimmers for a length before I decided which lane to join, and then I waited another lap for her to get to my end of the pool so I could ask to join her. It's a basic pleasantry of lane sharing, choose someone who seems to be at about your level and wait for the swimmer to acknowledge you before you get in and start swimming. I have the gear of a serious swimmer: a racer-back suit with no frills or furbelows, a swim cap made for folks like me who have a lot of hair to tuck up, and goggles. I can swim freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke creditably. (I can even do butterfly, though it wears me out pretty quickly and I feel self-conscious when I do it because that's a very serious stroke and everyone in the pool knows what you're doing when you try it....