roasted pork salad with chard, strawberries, and chevre

After days of indolence — reading on the back porch, driving around the cul de sac neighborhoods in a golf cart, sitting at the dining room table talking late in the evening, long after the dinner plates were emptied — it was almost time to leave Arizona.

I hate the end of vacations.

Before we left, I gathered some of the best food finds we had enjoyed during the week: fresh strawberries, kale, and chard from the Oro Valley farmers’ market, soft chevre that had been in the cheese drawer when we arrived, and the leftover roast pork Danny had cooked for dinner the night before. Add in some fresh local citrus juice and zest, plus olive oil, salt, and pepper, and I had the best salad I have eaten since last summer.

That’s the only hard part about going to Arizona in March. That dry, warm weather won’t be in our neck of the woods for another few months. Strawberries won’t be red here until June or July. That’s okay. I’ll just look at this photo and dream of summer, when I can eat this roast pork salad again.