My high school friend Amy and I got back in touch recently (via this website, really) and among our many e-mail exchanges was a request by her:
“How about an entry on cheap, easy, & portable [lunch] alternatives for all us corporate-readers stuck at our desks for lunch every day?”
Ok, Amy, you’re on!
I declare this Wednesday “Bring Your Gourmet To Work Day.” What does that mean? It means that you should kidnap a chef and bring him to work. Just kidding. Or am I?
[Feminist Response: “Even if you are kidding, you’re making gender assumptions when you use the masculine pronoun to refer to chefs. Some chefs are women, doofus.”]
Anyway.
This Wednesday, let’s all bring something delicious to work. Tomorrow night I’ll make my all time favorite easily-transportable good-for-work summer recipe: “Pasta, Pesto and Peas” [From–where else?–the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook] and you can use that on Tuesday to prepare for Wednesday.
But let’s not stop there. What if some people don’t LIKE pasta, pesto or peas? All you Amateur Gourmet readers, let’s unite together and come up with ideas for this incredibly important day. Post a brilliant idea for Wednesday’s transportable gourmet lunch and help enliven for millions an otherwise humdrum work day. Get to it!
I believe chocolate and peanut-butter cupcakes will help alleviate the drudgery. Some people may argue that they are more of a morning tea food, but it all depends on the quantity you eat. That or a nice cup of fennel soup.
It may be a simple sandwich, but it’s really great, and you can make extra for the co-workers that you really like.
All measurements are approximations, just make ‘to taste’.
Mediterreanean-Style Tuna Sandwich
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 – 1 Tablespoon freshly grated parmesan
1 red onion, sliced very thinly
1 can tuna
capers
sliced kalamata olives, to taste
1 fresh tomato, sliced 1/4-inch thick (or several cherry tomatoes)
romaine lettuce
fresh french bread, cut on the slant
Mix olive oil, red wine vinegar & cheese together.
Place onions in mixture and let marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
When ready, set out bottom slice of bread, drizzle thinly with the oil-vinegar mixture, and layer onions.
Follow with capers and olives, tuna, tomato, lettuce, drizzled lightly again with oil-vinegar mixture and top slice of bread.
Squish everything together and let sit for a few minutes while you clean up, bring plenty of napkins, this is one messy sandwich!
Picture of finished product: http://www.pbase.com/image/26430330
I get a lot of flak at work for bringing in somewhat gourmet lunches–which is odd, because most of my cow orkers are total food snobs! I guess lunch just doesn’t count. Anyway, these past couple weeks I’ve been bringing in panini-type sandwiches. My favorite fillings: tomato, goat cheese, and arugula; smoked salmon and cream cheese; prosciutto, caramelized onion, and goat cheese; cheddar and apple.
I’ve also been known to bring in entire cheese courses for lunch and leftover fondue. :)
Apple Pie.. MMM!
Cold cucumber yogurt soup, ciabatta, gruyere, fruit (melons, grapes, stonefruit), and iced tea. Mmmm! Cold lunch for the hot South.
buffalo mozzarella, tomato, arugula and basil salad with olives from the Whole Foods olive bar, and foccacia. Easy, cheap and not necessarily your everyday fare.