Cucumber Salad with Feta and Peppers

Well, hello there.  After what can only be described as an incredibly long and abrupt hiatus, I have returned.  And my excuse?  Well, I suppose the best way to describe it is: Life Happened.  We were doing just fine, walking (often running) down the path of Life, smelling the occasional flower, when WHAM, we got nocked in the heads by a large and uncomfortable dose of Reality. In effect, my darling spouse was diagnosed with a rather awful illness, and we are still finding our way out of the initial whirlwind of diagnosis and clawing our way firmly back onto the ground of living - nay, thriving.

It is amazing how easy it is to take health for granted (so long as you have it).  It is more amazing, still, how fully you fight for it once it is lost.  Ours is not a family who meekly follows the orders of a doctor.  Ours is a family that considers the entire balance: food, stress, spirituality, sleep, etc.  We look at the whole body, and we attempt to tackle illness from all angles, eliminating the problem, not merely treating the symptoms.

Which brings me to food.  While food has always been carefully and lovingly prepared in our home, it has now become an obsessively creative and precisely considered endeavor.  While I used to consider myself a fairly openminded chef, I am suddenly using ingredients I had never before considered (celery root, anyone?), and truly enjoying the chance to bring new flavors into my kitchen.  Every dish has become a study of balance, with a focus on simple, quality ingredients.

With every dietary restriction, there comes the option to despair, or the option to create.  While it takes significantly more work to find the good in restrictions, I have found this to be a refreshing challenge: one in which I am embracing new ideas, new techniques, and new ingredients.  The recipe I have for you today involves none of these novel concepts.  In fact, it is incredibly simple and you may very well have every one of these ingredients in your home right now.  What I love about this recipe, however, is it's simplicity.  And it's versatility.  Herein lies the recipe for a salad all by itself, or a dressing to be added to any number of other dishes.  So I encourage you to consider it a jumping off place, one where you can enjoy a few simple flavors, or add them to another dish.  Oh, and it will only take a few moments to throw together.

Cucumber Salad with Feta and Peppers
Serves 2-3 (as a main dish) 4-6 (as a side dish)

A note on vinegar: we are blessed with a lovely little store that sells fantastic flavored balsamic vinegars.  In this case, I used a cranberry-pear balsamic and it worked wonderfully.  If you don't have access to similar flavors, feel free to use any kind of acid (including regular balsamic or white balsamic vinegar, or even lemon juice) to give this salad a kick.

1 large or 3-4 small thin-skinned cucumbers (such as English or Persian cucumbers), preferably organic
1 medium red-bell pepper, preferably organic
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1-2 tablespoons vinegar
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
Fresh ground pepper

Wash and chop cucumber (leaving skin on), into a half-inch dice.  Wash and dice red bell pepper, removing seeds, and cutting into quarter-inch pieces.  Place the chopped vegetables into a medium-sized bowl.

In a small bowl, mix olive oil, vinegar, and freshly ground black pepper, whisking until the mixture becomes homogenous.  Drizzle olive oil mixture over vegetables, and toss until evenly coated.  Mix in feta cheese.  Refrigerate at least two hours (or up to three days) before serving, to allow flavors to blend.