I’ve mentioned this before on the blog, but when my kids go back to school, I get back what I refer to as my special lunchtime meal. Cooking for your family is obviously part of a mom’s job, yes, but it’s so nice to have the chance for one meal to be entirely yours every now and then. Lunch during the school week is that meal where I can really have whatever I’m craving or wanting and not worrying about who likes what and who will eat what. It can be a treat, really.

Avocado toast is one of my favorite lunches. It’s quick, easy, healthy and tastes absolutely delicious (if you are an avocado lover of course!). The last time I made avocado toast for lunch I decided to play around and change things up a bit. I gently added a little crumbled feta to the smashed avocado and sprinkled it liberally with my new favorite seasoning za’atar (last year I was obsessed with lemon pepper, apparently this year that obsession has evolved into za’atar). The toast was topped with slices of ripe summer tomatoes that turned this into one of my most favorite lunches ever!

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More often than not, I find myself with a small container of leftover roasted vegetables in my fridge. I don’t love eating leftover roasted vegetables on their own, but I do love adding them to other foods – especially frittatas.

This Roasted Zucchini and Onion Frittata Wrap came together in literally just a few minutes. I found myself extremely hungry at lunchtime one day (no surprise) and eggs seem to be my go-to lately. As I look at the picture of the wrap, I have to laugh because it looks HUGE. I was definitely a stuffed pregnant lady after I ate this so I will say this could easily become 2 wraps instead of one. All you would have to do is cut it down the middle after it’s all cooked up, and put each half on a tortilla. Or if you are finding that you have a monstrous appetite one day, then go ahead and eat it all up yourself, no judging here that’s for sure!

And of course, a little ketchup or sriracha only makes it better. 😉

What I love about this frittata wrap is that it would also make a fantastic “breakfast for dinner” option as well.

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This morning I’m playing total catch up. I spent the weekend up the road with my family and a bunch of blogger friends at Walt Disney World attending Food Blog Forum for the third year in a row (here’s last year’s recap). To say we had a great time would be an understatement. From Friday until late Sunday, I got to play in the parks with my family as well as connect with and get to know better other food bloggers that I have known virtually for years, as well as ones I met for the first time this weekend. My mind is processing it all this morning, absorbing all the notes I wrote while in sessions Saturday, as well as reliving all the moments I was able to have with people I talk with almost daily but only see in person maybe once a year, if that. It’s mind boggling sometimes. But as always, after a conference like this, I’m home feeling refreshed, revived and so thankful for what I do, write and share here on my blog. It’s truly evolved and grown over the years, starting as a fun creative hobby and now giving me the opportunity to work at home part-time while my kids are still young, exactly how I’ve always wanted it. Sometimes in the busy-ness of it all, it’s good and necessary to stop and really appreciate it all the way it should be appreciated. On that note, I have to say, I’m always so grateful for all of you who pop over here to read my words and see what I’m cooking in my kitchen. My goal with this blog has always been to share my love of g00d food with others, and to hopefully inspire someone to cook a meal for their family or try something new or different – in the same way I’m always inspired by others with the same passion. Needless to say, when I hear from a reader (or friend!) who’s made something from this blog and enjoyed it, well…that just puts a huge smile on my face and completely makes my day.

Today’s little salad is not necessarily a recipe. I always struggle with the feeling of having to share real “recipes” here, but in reality, most of the time I’m throwing together stuff on a whim – and if it works and I think it’s absolutely delicious, well, then I want to tell you about it, real “recipe” or not.

It’s hard to really say who the star of this salad is. This mixed greens salad mix I have been making is definitely key but the avocado and crunchy spring radishes really make a statement too. What pulls this combination together though, in a way that makes you want to have the same salad the next day, is the oil I’m using. I picked up this Roasted Almond Oil one day while shopping at Home Goods (they have such a great foodie section, don’t they?) and I have to be honest, for a while it just sat on my counter unused. I finally decided to give it a taste one day, and I was completely blown away by the truly delicious roasted almond flavor. I’ve been drizzling it on my salads ever since – no vinegar, just a light drizzle of this fragrant oil along with a pinch of coarse salt and pepper

I haven’t used the oil it for anything else really, but when I do I’ll be sure to let you know. I imagine it would be a wonderful finishing oil to freshly steamed or roasted green beans or to use in cooking a light fish dinner. I would be pretty happy dipping a chunk of bread in it too. 😉

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As much as I love salads, I haven’t been into them so much lately. I think I’m kind of bored with them maybe? That’s really what it is. We all get into our routines with what we eat, and variations of my super salad just hasn’t been cutting it these days. This salad though, this salad got me and my friend Julie excited last week.

This simple Asian Chopped Salad was the result of what we thought were going to be vegetarian dumplings. We created a vegetarian filling to try in a dumpling but to be honest, I wasn’t thrilled with how they were turning out. While Julie was cutting out her dumplings into a round shape with a biscuit cutter, the outer scraps were collecting into a pile on the cutting board. Being from the “waste not” mentality, I couldn’t bear to throw them in the trash, so I fried them up in a little bit of oil until they were crisp. We added them to our “reject” vegetarian dumpling filling and voila – this amazing salad was born.

I love everything about this salad. The crunch from the veggies and the fried wonton scraps makes it so good. And the dressing was incredibly simple – a little rice vinegar, sesame oil and soy sauce.

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When I was in college, I used to frequent a local bagel shop and order pretty much the same thing every time. A lightly toasted everything bagel with egg salad. When I was served my sandwich, it was always served this way – open faced with sliced tomatoes, red onions and a sprinkle of salty capers over top. I was completely hooked on it.

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I was obviously very hungry when I made my tuna sandwich earlier this week. I mean, look at this beast.

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Don’t laugh, but ever since I titled this post earlier this morning I have not been able to get the song Super Bass out of my head.

Moving on…

I have been eating a big salad every single day for the past week. I know this because I posted the picture shown above on Instagram exactly a week ago…not realizing how huge of an impact those two new salad dressings I randomly picked up that day were going to be on my eating habits this past week. I’m not kidding when I say HUGE salad either. The salad shown above has evolved since first photographed.

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