Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Almost Greek Salad

We typically eat red meat about... oh, twice a month. This is because I will only buy "happy cow" meat, and because happy cow meat is much more expensive, I have to wait for those lovely orange stickers proclaiming "reduced". Love that orange.

If my husband gets the chance to go to the store, however, it is nearly certain that red meat will return with him (there is either a magnetism or a weakness there). So, we hit our twice a month quota rather rapidly in the last week, as he did go to the store and we did have burgers twice in a row. So I won't dwell on the burgers anymore. Instead, I'll focus on two more lovely side dishes you can easily make instead of fries to accompany your burger tonight.

These two side dishes are super easy, and looked "Sunset Magazine" in the words of my husband. Yum.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Almost Greek Salad

You will need...

A willingness to be imprecise. I didn't measure much...

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
potatoes! as much as you want to eat.
butter
milk or cream
salt
garlic powder
chives, chopped

1) Wash and clean your potatoes, and peel them if you like. I like to leave the peels on. Slice into quarters, and boil in salted water until tender.

2) Drain water and return potatoes to pot. Begin to mash. Add milk/cream, butter, salt and garlic powder to taste. Add milk slowly so you don't make the potatoes soupy, but just do everything to taste. This is really easy to make taste great!

3) Continue mashing (and tasting and adding) until potatoes are the consistency you like. Serve with butter and sprinkle with chives.

Almost Greek Salad
8 oz. cherry tomatoes
feta cheese (I used my leftovers from Feta-stuffed burgers! A couple ounces I think.)
Small handful Italian parsley, roughly chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped bite-size
1 green pepper, cored and chopped bite size
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
(olives would be yummy, I didn't have any)

1) In a medium sized bowl, combine cherry tomatoes, crumbled feta cheese, cucumber, green pepper and parsley.

2) Add a splash of olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Toss well, and let sit five minutes before serving.