A pre-spring salad

This winter I have tried to learn the physiology of the nephron as well as how to cook root vegetables, which are cheaper and less egregiously out-of-season than tomatoes. The nephron is a series of parallel tubes in the kidney that filter electrolytes and manage the pH and osmolality of the blood. Root vegetables are starches that grow in the ground. Guess which endeavor met with more success.

Today's lunch:

• 1/2 beet, peeled, steamed, and sliced thin (prepped this over the weekend to have on hand)
• 1 carrot, raw, peeled and sliced thin
• Handful of quinoa (leftover from a Seder last night -- but easy to cook just as you would rice -- my roommate has a small rice cooker that she allows me to commandeer)
• Toasted walnuts, about 1/4 cup or less (a treat! -- also Seder leftovers)
• Arugula
• 1/2 lemon

I pack the quinoa, beet, carrots, and lemon in the bottom of a tupperware with the arugula on top, keeping the walnuts in a separate container to keep them crisp. At lunch I'll squeeze the lemon over everything and toss it all together. The lemon cuts the bitterness of the arugula perfectly.

Today I'll be eating it during an advocacy and service learning meeting on how to do a community needs assessment. What are the needs in my community? What is my community?