http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2012/aug/05/238842/

I’m like everyone else in that I love to splurge when I’m on vacation. I think there must be an switch somewhere deep in our human brains that says: Holy cow, you’re not at home, EAT ALL THE THINGS.

That mentality was on full display last week, when we took a family vacation.

That said, because we were staying at our family’s cabin, I had access to a kitchen. Thus, I tried get the splurge section of my brain to meet the practical side of my brain halfway. This pretty much translated to cooking lunch and then eating out at dinner.

Really, I don’t think that’s half bad. I got to enjoy my favorite vacation-spot Indian food (NAAN!) plus two different pizza joints AND got to introduce my parents to the awesomeness that is our favorite homemade fajitas.

Though we didn’t have any CSA goodness to work with (having given our pickup coordinator notice the week before), I was able to harvest produce from my own garden and hit up the Lawrence Farmers’ Market before we left. Because of that, I could enjoy a little taste of home each day at lunch.

For probably half of my lunches, I made the salad below, which was super tasty, healthy and included homegrown tomatoes along with store-bought ingredients I picked up when we reached our destination.

The salads went a long way to balance out edible vacation-style splurges (chocolate, a giant cookie, the aforementioned naan) and they were beyond easy.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2012/aug/05/238843/

Simple Vacation Salad

2 handfuls baby spinach

2 handfuls cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 avocado (it’s there, just buried in the photo)

Sliced almonds (to taste)

Store-bought honey mustard dressing (to taste)

Toss all in a bowl. Serves 1. Yum!

What’d we get this week?

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2012/aug/06/239017/

Melon, grapes, Swiss chard, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes.