Confession time — my name is Joy, and I’m a lazy girl (at least when it comes to food.) A lazy girl who gets mad when her pants don’t fit. So, what’s this lazy girl to do?  Figure out a solution.

How about…run 3 miles a day! Seems simple enough, right? Well, I’m still not quite there yet.  Most days I only have energy to walk (somewhat briskly, for about 40 minutes) and I am still working my way through C25K (again). As I rapidly approach the end of my late ’30s, what I used to do for exercise isn’t cutting it anymore. I’ve come to the realization that I need to change my diet and in a rapid-fire manner so that I won’t have to go shopping for a new wardrobe.

The easiest thing for me to do would be to eat a salad for one meal a day (that meal being lunch), except (and here comes another confession) I’m just not a big fan of salad. I quite like cooked vegetables of nearly any kind, but raw leaves? I could do without. But, as I mentioned before…pants need to fit.

I had to make a change. Salad will be my new BFF. I need to make it interesting, so I came up with a plan. Make up my favorite sandwich, just remove the bread and add green, leafy stuff. Brilliant!

What you need:

1 bag of green leafy stuff (I like Les Salades du Midi, Sorrento blend from …yes, you guessed it, Trader Joe’s)

1 serving (4 slices) of your favorite deli meat (I like sliced Smoked Turkey Breast or the sliced Original Mortadella with Pistachio from TJ’s), torn up into bite-sized pieces

2 tbsp. shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1 tbsp. Roasted & Salted Sunflower Seeds (this is for the crunch factor…try sliced almonds if you are not a fan of the little grayish bits that I adore)

1 tsp. of Extra Virgin Garlic Olive Oil (a little goes a long way with a toss)

1/2 of a ripe avocado (optional)

1 big bowl in which to toss these goodies

What you do:

Make it easy for yourself. Put these ingredients in a big reusable bag and bring them with you to work. Put them in the fridge until you are ready to use them. When you’re hungry, take them out. Put 1/3-1/2 a bag of salad in the bowl, and put all the other ingredients in on top.  Add the oil and toss.

I actually enjoy making it as salad assembly is a welcome break from the virtual insanity of teaching and it allows me to take care of me in the short time that I have for lunch. Here is what mine looked like the other day:

Eat…and be happy!