gwendolyn faith is not a crayon.

Ida had a rough day, realizing the passage of time can be relentless and unforgiving and all. Her day was probably even rougher than mine.

I think Ida needed to spend an hour or two at the Art Institute to pull herself out of her funk. Art always helps, at least a little bit.

{ Into the World There Came a Soul Called Ida by Ivan Albright, 1929-30 }

This week I’m bringing [Sweet] Potato Feta Gyros in my lunchbox repurposed plastic grocery bag.

Or maybe for a few weeks, depending how many team Lunch & Learns pop up on my calendar. I made pita bread a couple of weeks ago, but thanks to several Lunch & Learns with plenty of leftovers, the pita stayed in the freezer for awhile.

To be a little healthier, I subbed sweet potatoes for white potatoes, but I imagine the recipe would be even better as written. Sweet potatoes compete with the pan-roasted garlic and feta cheese, whereas white potatoes are almost a blank slate.

The tzatziki, though, is the star of the show. Definitely my new go-to! (…Do I actually lead a life that requires a go-to tzatziki recipe? Y’all.)

Recipe and image via Shutterbean.

A week or two ago, my friend Emily shared a photograph of a breakfast nacho buffet she’d set up for her friends. Since then, I’ve been thinking about breakfast nachos a lot. A lot, a lot, a lot.

(I hope you, like me, pronounce a lot, a lot, a lot like Lindsay Lohan as Annie James in the Parent Trap.)

Luckily, I found a perfect excuse to make breakfast nachos yesterday when Michael—a friend from high school who’s now studying astrodynamics at Purdue—came into town. I invited Denise, who went to high school with us, over for brunch, too, and set out fixings for a breakfast nacho buffet of our own.

Scrambled eggs a la Gordon Ramsay. Crumbled breakfast sausage. Sliced avocado. Leftover Gorgonzola and seasoned black beans. Diced purple onions. Salsa. Sriracha. And plenty of tortilla chips.

I’d be totally, completely happy to see Michael and Denise even if brunch weren’t involved. (I probably can’t say that about everyone.)

…I’m obsessed with breakfast nachos nonetheless.

I have salmon problems, people.

A few weeks ago, I met my friend Mark at Toro Sushi, his favorite sushi spot in the city. We sat at the bar, watching the sushi chef prepare masterful creations.

Since Mark’s a regular, the sushi chef gave us three pieces of salmon sashimi with our order. I definitely eat raw fish in rice rolls, but I’m never one to get straight-up sashimi. I wanted to show the sushi chef our appreciation, though; I wanted to eat that raw salmon.

Y’all, I almost died trying. I couldn’t stop gagging; I’m pretty sure my eyes almost popped out of my head as I choked. In the end, I swished the salmon back and forth in my mouth ‘til it was liquefied enough to swallow.

Recently, my salmon experiences at home haven’t been much better. I bought frozen wild-caught salmon filets months and months ago, but when I started to prepare one, I couldn’t get past the skin on the backside. Back to the freezer the filets went.

Until now. Perry’s Plate’s Creole Salmon Lettuce Wraps with Squasho de Gallo make me forget all about the salmon skin. Cajun-flavored salmon, topped with creole-spiced cream and a homemade pico de gallo that gives summer squash a starring role, all rolled into a lettuce wrap.

I’ll be real. The salmon probably would’ve tasted better, not as tough, if I had made it, oh, six months ago. But paired with the squash salsa and the creole crema, the too-tough salmon barely slowed me down. Give ‘em a try!

Image via Perry’s Plate.

Happy Patio Season, y’all! Chicago’s springtime temperature caught up to the rest of the country’s over the weekend. To celebrate, I met Rebba, Sara Jane and Christian for tacos and margs on the Big Star patio after my early-morning kettlebell class and dentist appointment. Finally!