Ready in 10 minutes, this cranberry pecan cucumber salad is a fresh and simple side dish for fall. Sweet, salty and crunchy, it complements many meals. Vegetarian and gluten-free, with an easy dairy-free/vegan option.

If weeknight side dishes sometimes feel like a chore, this cranberry pecan cucumber salad is a welcome change. It comes together in about 10 minutes with minimal prep—just a bit of slicing and a quick toss.

This salad balances crunchy cucumbers and pecans with sweet dried cranberries and a tangy maple-apple-cider dressing. A touch of red onion adds sharpness, and a sprinkle of crumbled goat cheese is optional if you want a creamy, savory finish.

Light, colorful and versatile, it works well alongside roasted mains, sandwiches, or as part of a holiday spread. It’s naturally vegetarian and gluten-free; skip the goat cheese to make it dairy-free and vegan.

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I used to get lost driving to Jamaica Plain, a Boston neighborhood not far from downtown. The winding streets around Fenway always looked like a maze to me. I developed a simple trick to find my way: I would tell myself to “stick by the river, and I will be fine.” It worked. Or perhaps after several visits I simply remembered the route. Lately we’ve spent many evenings at one of our favorite local restaurants, so the trip feels familiar now.

I remember the first time I walked down Center Street, the main street in Jamaica Plain. I peered through the window of a small restaurant called Ten Tables and wondered if it could live up to its name. The dining room really does have only ten tables, set close together, with an open kitchen at the back—perfect for watching the chefs at work from the corner of your eye. If you didn’t know the place was there, you might pass it by. It’s cozy, charming, and quietly elegant—like dining comme à la maison.

Every visit we are greeted by friendly staff and consistently excellent food. Last week was special: we dined there on Friday with friends and returned again on Sunday to celebrate. Lara, who I’d connected with through her food blog, and her husband Cam were visiting Boston, so we took them to Ten Tables. The atmosphere encouraged conversation; we even spent time chatting with the chef, David Punch. Ten Tables has that welcoming, neighborhood feel.

We enjoyed a sequence of memorable dishes: celery root soup with grapefruit granité, green lentils with Toulouse sausage, house-smoked charcuterie, culotte steak with Yukon potatoes and bone marrow, homemade gnocchi with root vegetables (sadly they were out of oxtail), and Arctic char with Meyer lemon salsa on farro and beets, accompanied by fresh salads and a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. For dessert we had crème caramel, rosemary ice cream, and a fragrant, spiced rice pudding that stuck with me. The evening was delightful and left me inspired—an impression I still had hours later, and one I knew would lead to a request from P. After ten years together you learn to anticipate those things.

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