[reubenswartz]

I make a salad most days for lunch. Some variation in ingredients, but I can have a healthy meal in < 5 minutes that I actually crave and I have good energy through out the afternoon. If you had told me when I was younger that I do this and it's not a punishment, I would not have believed you, but highly recommend.

[parentheses]

I love sweetgreen for this reason. It really showed me how salad and healthy western food in general can be tasty.

I grew up with a few strict options:

1. very flavorful Indian food of varying healthiness made by mom,

2. rich western foods made in a factory,

3. badly seasoned healthy western foods made by mom.

My mom never learned how to make healthy western food that tasted good because things like balsamic or the right balance of ingredients are what determines flavor (oversimplifying) in western cooking.

As a result, it took meeting my American partner and eating healthy food she or her family made. That helped me understand that tasty healthy food does exist.

Sadly this has left me with a strange attitude about food which is wrong. When I want tasty food, I am not quick to think of healthy foods.

Trying to change it but I thought maybe other immigrants landing in the western world had the same experience.