I have a little cooking dilemma this weekend. My sister and her family are in town and Sunday night we are having a family cookout. What's the problem, you ask?

Everything! I answer!

My mom and step-dad are vegetarian, I am gluten intolerant, my brother-in-law is a serious foodie, and my oldest son as well as my husband are picky as all get-out.

What to cook?

I thought about shrimp and grits (minus the shrimp but plus some sauteed onions and peppers for my parents) as a possibility. My sister and her husband are visiting from San Diego, which no doubt has restaurants that feature fabulous international dishes, but I doubt that shrimp and grits or collards feature on too many menus. I'd love to make some Eastern NC style BBQ (email me for the recipe!) but my mom is dead-set against eating any kind of pork product, especially the pulled and cooked in vinegar variety. But I'm just not sure. Big J won't eat anything I've mentioned, plus it'll probably be too hot for shrimp and grits, anyway. That's more of a winter months kind of meal.

So I stood and stared at my cookbooks, feeling desparate, until my eyes finally lit on the fattest cookbook I own: Please to the Table, by Anya Von Bremzen and John Welchman. Russian food. A ha! Manu possibilities there. Surely a whole country won't let me down.

I opened to the "Salati" section (that's "salad" to all you non-Russophiles), since no doubt it will be a hot and steamy night, plus I can probably make something ahead of time. Here's one very promising-looking recipe, from page 113):

Moldavian Potato, Feta, and Scallion Salad
(Salata de Cartofi cu Brinza)

6 medium-sized red skinned potatoes
1/3 c. olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 c. crumbled feta cheese, preferably Bulgarian
1/4 c. finely chopped scallions
3 tbs. red wine vinegar2 tbs. finely chopped fresh dill
salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 imported black olives for garnish

1. Scrub the potatoes thoroughly under cold water. Boil in lightly salted water until tender, about 18-20 minutes. Cool until you can handle them and cut into 3/4 inch diced pieces.

2. Toss in a large bowl with olive oil and garlic and cool to room temperature.

3. Add the feta and scallions and drizzle with the vinegar. Add the dill and season to taste with salt and peppers. Toss all ingredients together and allow to sit for an hour before serving. Garnish with olives.