Eating Omaha…. Charlie’s on the Lake

 As a finale to our anniversary weekend we dined at Charlie’s today. Lunch here is $16 a plate with an amazing variety of foods to choose from. We usually dine on the patio for lunch, it was shady and cool with a waterfall and pond nearby and several mallards in attendance. The food, as always, was superb.

Brenda had a nice salad topped with grilled chicken and a side of the best blue cheese dressing I’ve had as of late with large chunks of blue cheese in a creamy dressing.

I had a blackened grouper with a side of veggies. Two good sized grouper filets graced the plate with lemon wedges, perfectly cooked and slightly spicy. I had a choice of fried, blackened or sautéed. Blackening was the way to go. Our meals included sides and a beverage. 

Great service, great cooking for a perfect lunch with my perfect bride of 43 years. 

Other lunch entrees included a large variety of seafood prepared the way you like it, burgers, salads, pastas and chicken. Such a beautiful spot for lunch that won’t break the bank. 

I made a salad….

 Since the vegetarian baptism celebration during lent, I learned a lot about sourcing great salad ingredients to assemble delicious combinations that are great for portable things as well as entertaining company. We have some friends who are vegan and I would love to have them over for dinner and I would not be ashamed to serve them any of the salads I’ve made in the last few months.

This last weekend we hit a concert outdoors that’s pretty popular in Omaha and my buddy, Mike, made a Grandmothers pizza and I made a substantial salad to serve along side. This salad was definitely not vegetarian but it hit all the notes to go with that delicious pizza.

Brenda did not want a pasta salad but liked the idea of pasta in the salad and an idea was born.

I chopped a head of romaine, maybe a head and a half.

I boiled some Trotolle pasta, about half a bag for 7 minutes. It cooks quickly, then drained and rinsed and put it on top of the lettuce.

I chopped the following:

1/2 Red onion, Pepperoncini slices, a few tablespoons, a can of medium black olives, drained, picquant provolone, 1/4 lb cubed, 1/4 lb fresh mozzarella cubed or torn, 1/4 lb salami, julienned, 1/4 lb pepperoni, julienned, 2 tomatoes cubed, a can of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and cut bite sized. I tossed the salad and waited to pass the dressing when on the plate. 

For the dressing in a lidded jar

1/4 c Red Wine Vinegar

Juice of a lemon

1-2 teaspoons of sugar

1-2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning 

A few grinds of coarse black pepper, 1 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/2 cup olive oil or more. Top the jar and shake, taste and correct the seasonings.

The salad looked great and tasted fantastic.