In which this is just COOL

If you're wondering what to read next, the internet has the answer! Check out What I Should Read Next. It's genius--and it works! I plugged in several of my favorite authors and it linked me to other authors I love but also threw in some new ones I hadn't considered. YUM!

This week I've been eating very well indeed, and since we all know I don't actually like to cook but prefer just to throw food together, I thought I'd give you the super simple salad I've been lunching off of:

Toss a few handfuls of salad greens into a bowl. (I prefer romaine because it's the only one that manages some darker green leaves and a lot of crunch. Second choice is mixed field greens.) Add a third of a can of rinsed black beans. Toss in one chopped vine tomato or a handful of halved grape tomatoes. (I LOVE those little guys). Scoop out the flesh from half a large or one whole avocado and toss on top. Grind on some good salt and then add several heaping spoonfuls of fire-roasted salsa. That's it--a bowlful of good veggies with no dressing! I char a habanero-lime tortilla until it's crunchy to have on the side in place of tortilla chips, but you have to be a little careful there. A large tortilla--like the size they use in most burrito franchises--can add 300-400 calories to a meal. Eeek! But the ones I get from Trader Joe's are pretty modest in size and only have about 150, much better than a heap of tortilla chips. You could also add a bit of roasted corn or a bit of chopped cilantro if you like.

The other salad I made was a handful of mixed field greens topped with cold roasted beets, a sprinkling of feta, and a bit of balsamic vinaigrette with freshly-ground pepper. I had that for dinner last night with a baked sweet potato. I realized later that the sweet potato would have been even yummier if I'd cubed it up and roased it until it started to crisp on the outside. I could have tossed it on top of the salad and made a sort of crouton out of it. (And much love to Trader Joe's for cooking and chilling the beets! I love the package of prepped ones I can pick up there in the veggie case because it keeps my kitchen from looking like I just committed an untidy murder on my prep table...)