Apple, Celery & Peanut Salad

+ a thank-you card breakthrough

Crunchy celery, sweet-tart apples, salty feta and peanuts, and a kick of chile-lime powder. I know, it sounds like a strange and unlikely combination. It's the confluence of a few ordinary ingredients that you probably already have sitting around in your kitchen, but you never would have paired together. So just try it. You won't be sorry.

The salad is based on a recipe from Joshua McFadden’s cookbook Six Seasons. I am obsessed with this cookbook but can never find the right time to cook the recipes. (Why? Well, kids. That's why.) I had a rare opportunity to eat lunch by myself at home the other day, and I took advantage of it by putting this together, sitting down at the table, and seriously enjoying my meal. Only thing missing was a glass of rose. Maybe next time!

After I ate, I grabbed the stack of thank-you cards off the table, stuck them in envelopes, and addressed them. Yeah, it was a productive lunch break.

We had a thank-you card breakthrough this month after my older daughter's 6th birthday party. I bought a stack of cards and was dreading the hours I would have to spend writing lame notes and overthinking every word written because that's how I am. I left the cards on the table, made a comment to my daughter and husband about the existence of the cards, and went out to run an errand. When I got back, the cards were done!

My daughter had enlisted her younger sister in a factory-line card-making activity—she wrote "Thank you" in each card and her sister decorated them as she pleased. I'm never writing another thank-you note on behalf of my kids again. And now I'm pretty sure my older daughter is going to be some sort of line boss when she grows up, and I'm totally cool with that.

Apple, Celery & Peanut Salad

The original recipe called for fresh chile, which I didn’t have, but I do believe I ended up with something better: Rancho Gordo Stardust, a mixture of chile powder, crystallized lime, salt, and sugar. Go get some for yourself immediately.

For one serving, on a plate or in a bowl, combine:

1 apple, sliced 2 celery sticks, thinly sliced 1/4 cup peanuts, crushed

Top with:

Juice from 1 small lemon Extra-virgin olive oil French feta cheese or soft goat cheese Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley Rancho Gordo Stardust or thinly sliced fresh chile

I'm planning on bringing all these components with me to work and assembling them for an easy and satisfying lunch. What's your favorite work lunch?