When I'm not hungry, I don't cook. And even when I am hungry, I don't cook what I'm not hungry for. Make sense? It leads me to believe that those of us who love to cook and think and talk and write about food tend to be the hungrier ones, the ones with Appetites. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd bet not.

I bring this up because I've had a somewhat diminished appetite the last week or so (the pendulum swings...) and I'm finding it so hard to figure out what the heck to make for dinner! I totally plan from hankerings, and without hankerings... It's much more of a chore, blah. I would be very sad indeed if my appetite just disappeared.

So tonight we had one of those I-don't-feel-like-cooking dinners, where I pick up a rotisserie chicken, and grill some pita bread, and set out olive spread and tsatsiki from the deli, and make a big Greek salad (romaine, kalamata olives, crumbled feta, tomatoes, onions, fresh dill), and we each put it all together in various ways - chicken in the salad or salad in the warm pita or olive spread on the chicken or pita... You get the picture. Fills the hole and tastes pretty damn good to boot. NICE!

I signed up for my La Finca CSA (community supported agriculture) veggie share today! Wow, summer is really going to come, finally, finally. I had so much fun cooking all my fresh La Finca veggies last summer, can't wait to do the same again this year. (Bring on the garlic scapes, baby!) Plus, this time around, I have a juicer so am planning on experimenting with all sorts of interesting juice combinations. And as soon as things are consistently warm enough, I'll plant my pots of herbs, lettuces, and tomatoes again as well. Eating fresh, locally-grown foods, out on the deck... Heavenly. It's been a l...o...n...g...a...s...s winter and I'm rearin' to go!

Speaking of the deck, I'm back out there grilling almost every night. I could grill in the winter but find it more of a pain (brrr!) than it's worth, so by this time of year, I've really got a hankering not just for the taste of grilled foods, but for the ease of preparation. No pans to wash! Woo hoo! I grilled a few chicken breasts last night, some of which I used in a quick vegetable soup I whipped up for a light dinner for John and me, and the remainder of which I turned into chicken tacos for dinner tonight. Always a challenge, keeping the ubiquitous-but-fabulously-versatile chicken breast interesting, ha. But in soups, sandwiches, tortillas, salads, pastas, and with various veggies, salsas, quick sauces, and cheeses, it's all good. It's. All. Good.