What a weekend! We just got back from a day in wine country. We are so lucky in Portland – it’s only an hour away, so any old weekend we choose, we can head out before lunch, try 3 or 4 wineries and be home well before dinner – if we are not too tired to make dinner, that is I actually planned a healthy dinner ahead of time but we’re full of a good lunch and good wine and I’m not even sure we will have a full dinner tonight! Might just be some sparkling water and a cheese board, which isn’t half bad!

So much of our life in Portland revolves around the seasons. It feels so good now that it’s actually warm outside again. And, thank goodness, it’s light until around 8 again. It feels like it’s so much easier to get things done.

For example, making yourself a decent salad for dinner or even lunch the next day. It just feels, for some reason, like bedtime is a little further away when you get home from work. I fully realize that there are the same number of hours in the day, but that extra light really helps your attitude.

Here’s a springy, crunchy salad I made last week for Dave and I for work lunch. We ate it with Tofurky’s vegan chicken substitute, which I love (not sponsored!), but you can use regular chicken if you like Or, it doesn’t necessarily need the traditional protein top. As a nice bonus, this can be made ahead of time since it doesn’t contain traditional lettuce that will get soggy.

Now that it’s Sunday evening, I’m roasting a couple of chicken breasts and making a chocolate tart. Last week, I did such a major fridge cleanup. It feels so good to have so much visible space in there. And I think it helped us eat, and therefore not waste, so much more that we already had, this past week. Which feels so much better than constantly adding more stuff from the store.

I’m hoping my early chicken roast, plus having all the lettuce and herbs in the fridge washed, will give us the jump start we need to make so many healthy meals this week. Wish us luck, and tell me your best meal prep tips in the comments!

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 cup shredded snow or snap peas
• 2 ribs celery, sliced very thinly on the bias
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp. fresh chopped mint
• 2 tbsp. hemp seeds
• 2 tbsp. best quality extra virgin olive oil
• zest of one lemon
• 2 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• optional: edible flowers

Instructions

1. Toss all ingredients except avocado in a mixing bowl, and then divide onto serving plates.
2. Top with avocado and edible flowers.