The chopped salad phenomon has taken over the urban American lunch scene and I’m not complaining. I find myself regularly choosing these cut up meals from a menu and I’ve noted that it’s not as much the ingredients that please me as it is the fact that’s it’s chopped. Does this mean I’m lazy? Is cutting food with a fork and knife such a huge stumbling block? Maybe it’s chewing food that’s the turn off.

I’m going to convince myself that these mixed salads just taste better. I feel like they do, don’t you? All the flavors come together in this perfect, evenly proportioned way. And the fact that you can spoon-feed yourself raw veggies is somehow comforting, I’ll admit it.

So, here’s my advice for your home: Buy a food chopper and get creative. Summer has so many fresh veggies to offer and almost all of them taste better in managable, bite-sized pieces. Picture these ingredients: lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, egg, cheese bacon. Now picture them chopped. You feelin’ me now?