Please don’t pass the arugula (Aug. 20)
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
I had an opportunity the other day to have a sinful supper — a sandwich made from plain white bread, a thin slice of ham, a slice of provolone cheese, lots of mayonnaise, some sliced dill pickles and a little salt and pepper. It was delicious.
It had been years since I had eaten plain, white bread — the kind dietitians tell you to avoid, even if you have to cross the street. This was not Wonder Bread, but it was a softer, doughier cousin.
For many years, I have eaten bread made of whole wheat and wood shavings, bread I am assured is good for me, even though it tastes like somebody drug it along behind a pickup.
I’m not saying I dislike this good-for-me bread. You can get used to anything. Well, almost anything.
I still haven’t developed much of a taste for arugula or radicchio. A few weeks ago, I fought my way through an arugula and radicchio salad, hoping I would stumble on some iceberg lettuce, but with no luck.
When it comes to salads, I’m an iceberg lettuce and cabbage man, although I do like a little romaine if the leaves haven’t started to turn
brown.
When it comes to cabbage, I like the old-fashioned kind, the kind you use in cole slaw, better than the Asian kind, which I think secretly wants to be lettuce.
Another thing I love is potato salad. Mrs. Doud, by the way, makes the world’s greatest potato salad.
Another thing she makes is an unforgettable deviled egg.
Imagine this: A plate on which is a white bread sandwich, as described above, a nice little green salad made of lettuce and a little cabbage, a big dollop of Mrs. Doud’s potato salad, two deviled eggs and some black olives. The thought of it makes my mouth water.
The next day, of course, I’d have to go to confession.
