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<p>A couple of weeks ago I was trying to figure out how to fix some meat that would be appealing to me in 100-degree weather&mdash;I mean appealing to cook and appealing to eat. You see, James is a carnivore. He could eat meat three times a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. I am not. I prefer to eat meat not more than once every other day at most; if I cooked only for myself, I'd probably have it only once or twice a week.* Because of my own predilections, I find it difficult to dream up meals centered on meat. My culinary imagination just doesn't tend in that direction.</p>

<p>In attempting to come up with something appealing, I settled on the idea of a Cuban meal. Cuba is hot, so I figured Cuban-style meat would be appropriate for desert-style weather (even though Cuba's heat is tropical). My Google search directed me to <a href="http://www.tasteofcuba.com" target="blank">TasteofCuba.com</a>, where I found, among other things, <a href="http://www.tasteofcuba.com/pollosalsanegro.html" target="blank">this recipe</a> for chicken in a black bean sauce. So I had the meat dish, which would obviously be served over rice. I needed another side.</p>

<p>At this point, Ben is wondering, where is the avocado love? Here it is: Further exploration of TasteofCuba.com turned up a recipe for <a href="http://www.tasteofcuba.com/ensalagupina.html" target="blank">avocado and pineapple salad</a>. This sounded unusual to me&mdash;I love both avocado and pineapple but would never have thought to put them in a salad together. I had to try it. I think J. was a little skeptical at first, but the salad was delicious and went perfectly with the chicken. The site's recipe doesn't specify quantities for the dressing, but I used about three-four tablespoons each of apple cider vinegar and olive oil, and it seemed just right. I also used green leaf rather than iceberg lettuce. Here's the recipe:</p><blockquote><strong>Ensalada de Aguacate Y Piña (Avocado and Pineapple Salad Recipe)</strong><br>
Mix the following ingredients for a simple Cuban style salad.<br>
Shredded iceberg lettuce<br>
2 cups of pineapple chunks<br>
1 large avocado, peeled and cut in slices<br>
1 small onion, sliced thin<br>
olive oil<br>
red wine or cider vinegar<br>
salt and pepper</blockquote>
<p class="note">*In fact, when I lived alone&mdash;as long ago and far away as that seems&mdash;and did cook only for myself and the occasional guest, I rarely cooked meat. Most of the time, I ate vegetarian at home and meat only at restaurants.</p>