A Grown up Kind of Birthday Meal

A few months ago Caveson#1 turned 16.  There's something about that 16 year milestone that makes you say to yourself - and out loud for the whole family to hear , "Where did those 16 years go, how did they pass so quickly?  Did I do and teach all of the things the heavens entrusted me to accomplish with this little, now bigger being?"  Take heed my mommy sisters.  Time is fleeting.  Your child will be 16 in a blink.  That's a conversation for another post, though.
     I always give the Cavesons an opportunity to choose a special family birthday meal.  Caveson #1 said he didn't really have a preference so I set out to find the perfect meal to please all the family palates and stomach ailments.  Martha provided me with just the fix.  Yes, Martha of the Stewart variety.  This Nicoise style salad was not only beautiful but plentiful and delicious.

And now for the meat plate.

This meal would be fabulous for vegetarians also, sans the meat of course.  We chose grilled chicken, steak and Mahi Mahi on the meat platter.  

     

The salad platter includes several hard cheeses plus fresh mozzarella, gold and red beats(in a separate bowl to discourage beet juice from contaminating everything), olives, heirloom tomatoes, colorful peppers, boiled eggs, lettuce, watercress, cukes, avocados, and water chestnuts.  If I remember correctly, Martha put one of these together the day after a dinner party to use up her leftover meat and veggies.  I often make my own dressings but quite frankly, this took a while to put together so I opted for store-bought dressings this time. 

     Really, the possibilities are endless for additions to this salad.  Try carrot sticks, boiled red skins, jicama, celery, shredded cabbage or thinly sliced red onion.  MMMmmm!

Our local grocery stores now have these great olive bars with a collection of different types of olives.  There's garlic stuffed, almond stuffed, pimiento stuffed and lots of different types of kalamata olives.  I have never been a big olive fan but, wow, these are delectable!

When it came to birthday cake, Caveboy#3 opted for a birthday pie instead.  This just happens to be a Martha Stewart recipe, as well.  I tweaked it a bit and added cherries so it became an apple cherry slab pie.  I have made this slab pie with only apples and only cherries and it's just plain old good no matter what you put into it.  Feeds a crowd, too.

 Notice the candles.  I didn't have a 1 and a 6 candle but I had three candles that added up to 16.  

Hey, sometimes we have to improvise, don't we?

And there you have it.  I hope you're inspired to create your own whole meal salad.  It's a delicious meal, birthday or not.