Pico de Gallo Salsa and Chips and Greek Chicken Salad at Woody’s Bar and Restaurant at the Monterey Regional Airport in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget
A recent heat wave with temperatures in the 90s encouraged my family to dine at Woody’s Bar and Restaurant and the Monterey Regional Airport in Monterey, California for their great food and equally great air conditioning.
I wanted salty food and ordered pico de gallo salsa and chips as a starter. This dish at Woody’s is made with chopped tomatoes, chopped and mild green and reddening Serrano peppers (probably from nearby Prunedale), chopped onions, chopped cilantro, salt, and freshly squeezed lime juice.
This salsa bursts with Vitamin C and helps rid the body of free radicals that may cause cancer. This chunky salsa tastes wonderful on house-baked tortilla chips that are lightly salted. This appetizer definitely “opens the appetite” as the French say.
As my main dish, I ordered one of my favorite dishes from teen years in Detroit, Michigan – a Greek salad. The Salinas, California version of this dish comes with sautéed chicken breast seasoned with lemon-pepper salt and oregano, a heaping mound of bitter red and green frisée lettuce, and red wine and vinegar dressing as the basic ingredients.
The red wine vinegar is sharp, probably house-made with apple cider vinegar and aged. It is mixed with the addition of oregano. This dressing makes the salad outstanding. The chicken, lettuce, and dressing alone are full of vitamins and antioxidants that taste wonderful for bitter and sour flavor combination lovers.
Woody’s adds the following items to their Greek salad for flavor and spa dining:
-sour feta cheese cubes for calcium and protein
-pitted small Niçoise olives
-minced red onions
-heirloom cherry tomatoes cut in half
-slice yellow banana peppers
I never get tired of tonic Greek salads. I always feel healthy and chipper after eating one.
I drank a bitter, unsweetened tea with a squeeze of lemon juice with the salad. I like bitter tea when it is hot out and it made the bitter lettuce taste even better with the red wine dressing.
Locals and visitors alike can benefit from eating Monterey County’s organic produce at Woody’s at the Monterey Regional Airport in California along with organic chicken from neighboring San Benito County.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games
