It takes very little effort to make, and while it’s cooking, you can stand outside by the grill chatting with friends as an incredibly fresh, filling, and nourishing meal practically comes together on its own.

I have to admit that my enthusiasm for cooking depends a lot on the size and comfort of my kitchen. Cooking in a matchbox-sized kitchen simply isn’t as enjoyable as cooking in a bigger, more practical space. That’s why I’m not much of a cook in our rental home. But when summer finally arrived in Estonia — bringing sunshine and warm weather — we moved our life outdoors. Suddenly, our tiny kitchen felt much larger: the soft grass became the floor, and an old industrial-style foundation turned into a countertop. We even bought our very first mini grill and have been practicing our grilling skills on it ever since. To be honest, there’s still a lot to learn, but everyone has to start somewhere.

The frequency of my recent blog posts has become a bit of a joke. Every day I think, “Right! Today’s the day!” But by the time I get home in the evening, a two-year-old demands attention, then comes washing, feeding, bedtime stories… and once the house finally falls silent, I collapse face-first into my pillow with nothing in my head except overwhelming exhaustion. Then I think, “Tomorrow for sure!”

But the next evening usually ends exactly the same way, so I pin my hopes on the weekend instead — like the one that just passed. “Surely today I’ll manage!” Except life has its own plans: Saturday disappears into work, and Sunday gets swallowed by everyday chores. By Sunday evening I’m still optimistic, but when I only manage to get dinner into the oven at 9:15 PM (and it needs an hour to cook…), I realize my child probably had cartoons from YouTube for dinner. I try to tempt him with half a meat pastry from Rimi and some frozen chicken balls from the cupboard. Yes — hard as it is to admit — I’m only human too, and sometimes I take the easier route.

Reality takes over my plans, and all I manage to think is how badly I want to write tonight before eventually falling asleep with my face on the keyboard.

Despite all of this, I absolutely love good food — especially the kind that comes together quickly. That’s exactly why this salad won my heart. I also decided to experiment a little on myself while making it and wondered whether my lactose intolerance might somehow have disappeared and maybe, just maybe, I could eat goat cheese again. I had been craving it so badly.

Unfortunately, it turned out that Mr. Intolerance is still very much present. After enjoying this incredibly delicious salad, I still ended up with stomach cramps and swallowing a couple of tablets. But honestly, the salad was absolutely worth it.