Lunch - The Mid-Day, Polyphonic Food Blog

[dcandohio]

I’ve been thinking about quiche, so last night I made a ham and Swiss cheese quiche flavored with tarragon, that I enjoyed for lunch today. 

[Pat]

For lunch today I made a lovely salad of pink grapefruit segments over baby arugula, with a mound of cottage cheese in the center. I put a few grinds each of black and pink peppercorns over the plates. Hit the spot. Great mix of tastes and textures.

I also had my frequent lunch dish of Greek yogurt with raw oats* and blueberries with homemade cranberry sauce swirled in. It's usually not sweetened, but there's still a little strawberry sauce left from our V-Day cheesecake, so a drizzle of that went in too. As part of my contribution to finishing the beet flan, I plated a little of that alongside my yogurt. Quite pretty.

My husband had the same salad, the last of some chicken kale stew from the freezer, and the rest of the flan. (He also had a few grapes and a couple of cookies.)

*Along the lines of overnight oats, a small spoonful of rolled oats mixed into the yogurt half an hour or so before eating will soften and melt right down into the mix.

[Pat]

This is a pandemic recipe I've had my eye on at several different points. It went up on the Post site last May. Finally made it today for lunch: Spiced Bread Egg in a Hole. It would have come out better if I'd acquired the bread I was planning to use for it instead of using challah, which is what I had. How pandemicky🙃.  It needs a sturdier bread, but it came out well enough I'll be making it again with a more appropriate backdrop.

It was served with an InstantPot beef vegetable soup I put together from the last of some chuck I defrosted yesterday, excess broth and vegetables from last night's beef pot pie, wild rice, and leftover lima beans. The center hole parts from the egg toast made excellent soup croutons. I highly recommend the soup/spiced egg bread combination

I also dolloped a little of the lemon saffron yogurt sauce I had left from artichokes the other night onto my egg. Flavors went together really well.

[Pat]

We had eggs again for lunch today, along with more of the lemon saffron yogurt on top. My husband commented that it looks like hollandaise and, indeed, it does.

I had some prepared kale from an NRG order to work with. It's one of the regular things I've been buying from them for almost a year. I heated the kale slowly in a medium skillet, then cracked the eggs into indentations in the greens, drizzled a little cream over each egg, and covered for a few minutes until the eggs were nicely poached. I sprinkled some grated Parmesan over the kale before starting and a little more before serving and added some crunchy homemade breadcrumbs before serving as well. Really good.

I'm not sure which chef/restaurant of theirs this is from but I like the way they do long-cooked Southern greens (vinegar, hot pepper, vegetable broth). I have made the eggs this way before but these came out especially well. I served my husband's portion over some bulgur. I had mine without and had yogurt with some fruit on the side. We also had the very last of the challah.

[Pat]

My husband made the first Costco trip in four months this morning and we had their rotisserie chicken for lunch, along with tabbouleh I put together from stuff I had. That came out really well. We also had small flattish rolls from the shopping trip, labeled "artisan" but ciabatta-looking.

[Pat]

Today I made salmon chowder with some of the leftover fish from last night, incorporating the last of the fish stock from District Fishwife. (The vegetables: large Yukon Gold potato, celery, carrot, sliced garlic, and yellow onion.) I started early enough to get a consistent small dice on the vegetables. Finished the chowder with some South Mountain Creamery cream.

To accompany, I made cheese toasts with the split ciabatta-esque rolls from Costco. I made a little honey mustard to spread on the bread and added several layers of very thinly sliced Jasper Hill Farm Eligo cheese (we still have a lot), and ran them under the broiler.

It was looking so good, I grabbed a few photos right before we sat down. I don't do well with photo editing, so the colors in these haven't been adjusted. The better composed photo is more washed out. But the one with a more representative color was taken from the wrong angle😖. In any case, lunch.

[Pat]

We had a frittata, bread, and salad for lunch. The frittata (below) was the remainder of the variety of sauteed mushrooms I had from making mushroom toasts the other night and the last of some baby arugula, plus some flat leaf parsley to supplement the greenery and grated Parmesan. It got a little overly browned on the edges but was fluffy the rest of the way. Bread was sourdough from a WF order. I had a yogurt fruit salad and my husband had the remainder of last night's dinner salad.

[Katya4me]

We have a friend over, so I made Spanish ribs in the Instant Pot.  It's chilly today, so I chopped up the 2 butternut squash that have been sitting on the counter and roasted them with a spice mix that I got from Colonial Williamsburg far too long ago.  The ribs were great, no sauce needed and the squash was the right side for the meal.  Our friend doesn't like leftovers, but I do and there's just enough ribs and squash leftover for 1 more serving.

[Pat]

1 hour ago, Katya4me said:

We have a friend over, so I made Spanish ribs in the Instant Pot.

Bookmarking that for when I have ribs. I've successfully made some things from his blog. Squash sounds like a good side.

[Pat]

I made a cream of root vegetable soup for lunch today to use up things that needed to be used (potato, turnip, white carrot, celery, shallot, milk; plus dehydrated onion, bay leaf, nutmeg, kosher salt, and white pepper). I added a little itty bitty poussin neck left from the other night to some water to make some broth before adding the diced vegetables. The milk, which was beginning to sour just enough that I thought it might curdle in coffee but was still otherwise fine, went in to the simmering soup after I removed the bay leaf and neck, and then I whizzed all of it with an immersion blender before serving it garnished with minced parsley. The spicing was dead on, if I do say so myself.

My husband also had a link of leftover cooked kielbasa and a remnant of tamale pie.

[dcandohio]

Two fried eggs served on top of grilled asparagus, with roasted potatoes on the side. One of the egg yolks broke when it went into the pan, but otherwise, this was a really delicious lunch. 

[KeithA]

Sabich salad - baked eggplant slices, hardboiled egg slices, israeli salad, tahini, amba, and zhug - with some baguette slices (because the local grocery had no pita)

[dcandohio]

Shrimp Remoulade, served on a Romaine and tomato salad. 

[genericeric]

Got out the Foreman (a grill pan would work, too), grilled thin discs of eggplant, zucchini, summer squash and tomato.  Stack on a ciabatta that had some balsamic vinaigrette and then topped with a slice of mozzarella.  Squish down in the Foreman for a few minutes - absolutely delicious.

[KeithA]

Yesterday on Sunday when I had more time, I made Smitten Kitchen's winter squash onion sautee on goat cheese toasts - adatped from this recipe  It is a bit of work but turned out great. I used goat cheese and not ricotta which was a nice contrast to the sweet sour of the onion/squash mash. The onions cooked down in maple syrup and apple cider vinegar was great. I would probably make those alone again to add to anything. I used acorn squash because i had it on hand and probably would season it a bit more as it was a bit bland and really needed the onion for flavor. I also didn't have fresh mint so sprinkled some dried mint on top but fresh would have been much better.

[KeithA]

Started Thanksgiving meals early this year. My in-laws don't make stuffing or real cranberry sauce - my two holiday favorites - so I made a small amount myself over the weekend and for the last 2 days I've been enjoying stuffing, cranberry sauce, and left over chicken (I'll have to wait for the turkey). So yummy.

[Pat]

Yesterday for lunch I was looking for a way to use up the last of the Christmas Eve cod, some of which was getting pretty dried out.  My creation was called Cod Hash Croquettes😄, and they were pretty good, if I say so myself.

The hash was made from the cod (still topped with baked on cranberry sauce), that I flaked and mixed with the leftover cooked peas that were in the same container, plus the leftover greens, onion, and garlic that were in another container. I mixed in a  beaten egg and unseasoned breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes, and formed into patties. This made 3 croquettes about 3" or so in diameter.

I didn't want to add too much binder and risk drying the mixture out because the point was to counteract dry fish, so I sprinkled flour on each side of the cakes to add a little more to hold them together and help them brown as well.

They were served with tortilla chips and hot green crema/sauce that came with rotisserie chicken I'd gotten from Canales/Tortilla Cafe.

I haven't kept track of lunches in quite a while now, but this one was worth recording.

[Katya4me]

We had quite a number of leftover ingredients hanging around on the counter and in the fridge, so I decided to use them up for lunch.  I started with this recipe: https://thefamilyfoodkitchen.com/kale-corn-chowder/  But I had some bacon in the fridge and 2 potatoes on the counter, so I decided to add those to the chowder as well.  I still have about another 1/2 of so of heavy cream to use up, but this made for a tasty lunch today and leftovers for tomorrow.

[Katya4me]

Today was fancy ramen. I started with a beef bone broth noodles package.  Sauteed some Chinese broccoli while I waited for the water to boil.  When that happened, added the package contents, some lemongrass and frozen Asian meatballs. Once those were cooked, tossed in some mushrooms and Thai basil.  Divided into 2 bowls, with the Chinese broccoli going in my bowl. Only used half the meatballs so might do a repeat for dinner tomorrow night. 

 

[Katya4me]

Continuing with our experimental vegan kick this weekend, we did udon and mushrooms in cream sauce for lunch today: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/creamy-cashew-udon-with-crispy-mushrooms  So much umami in this dish and definitely a winner for me.

[dcandohio]

French lentils marinated in a Dijon and tarragon vinaigrette on romaine salad with prosciutto. 

[Katya4me]

Today's lunch was stir fry over daikon noodles, featuring bok choy, rehydrated mushrooms and tofu skin.  I added oyster sauce and a bit of chicken broth to the cornstarch at the end and liked how it worked.  I used this recipe as my starting point: 

https://thewoksoflife.com/bok-choy-tofu-skin/#recipe

[Katya4me]

I've been wanting to try this recipe for a while and used last weekend as my opportunity to do so: https://www.koreanbapsang.com/folded-kimbap-or-gimbap/

Made it twice, the first time with slices of homemade corned beef and the 2nd time w/ tuna.  I liked the tuna better in the sense that the corned beef slices didn't tear as easily as the seaweed did.  However, both tasted good.  With the corned beef, I did a slice of muenster cheese, but no egg, and with the tuna, we did egg, no cheese and I thought it tasted god w/ both variants.  Next plan is deli ham slices w/ quick pickled veggies.

[dcandohio]

Curry chicken salad on top of sliced tomatoes. I amped up the dressing a bit with some Nandos Peri Peri mayo. Good call. 

[Katya4me]

Made a variant of this: https://www.skinnytaste.com/spicy-canned-salmon-rice-bowl/#recipe

I forgot the cucumber, so that was not included.  But I had grilled some green onions and a couple of pineapple slices, so I put those in the food processor, along with mayo, a bit of oil, soy sauce and Sriracha.  Once that was fairly smooth, I put it in a bowl and added the canned salmon and adjusted to taste.  I reheated the rice and added a couple of dabs of sesame oil and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.   Tasted somewhat like a deconstructed spicy salmon roll and really easy to make so I'll need to remember for the future.

[Katya4me]

We had leftover rice noodles, cucumber, lettuce, Thai basil and rice paper wrappers.  And then I went fusion: for the protein, we had leftover smoked chicken breast from a BBQ restaurant so we shredded that for spring rolls.  Then dipped them in the leftover BBQ sauces.  The vinegar based sauce was the best with the rolls and made for a great repurposing of leftovers.

[Katya4me]

I picked up some king oyster mushrooms last week, and today used them for lunch.  Soy Butter Glazed King Oyster Mushrooms over brown jasmine rice.  I had 10 oz instead of 16 oz. of mushrooms, so only needed to cook them in 2 batches instead of 3.  We do like sauce, so I didn't reduce the glaze amounts and it made for a delicious lunch for 2 with no leftovers.

[Pat]

I had saved the liquid from my Christmas InstantPot lamb shoulder. It cooked down to perfect gelatin with an easily removable fat layer on the top. So it became the base of lamb stew for lunch. I used dried onions but everything else fresh: rosemary, garlic, turnip, gold potato, white sweet potato, and previously roasted carrots. Remembering Dean Gold's advice about how San-J Tamari adds flavor, I added a couple of shakes of that, as well as a couple of squeezes from a tomato paste tube. It was fantastic. We had it along with pita from Yellow and WF roasted garlic hummus.

[Katya4me]

Monday was absolutely gorgeous, so I grilled harissa chicken thighs.  I marinated them for an hour, then while the chicken was grilling, I cooked the marinade into a sauce.  Had that with the chicken over rice and it was perfect.

[Katya4me]

Lunch today was tasty tofu sandwiches.  We did them on club rolls and I did some quick pickled spicy daikon radish to go with them.  Did Thai basil instead of cilantro and only did 1 slice of tofu per sandwich, so have plenty of leftovers for later this week.

[Katya4me]

I was in the mood for a grain salad today but didn't quite end up with that.  I started with this recipe for crispy oven baked tofu and doubled the sauce amount. While it was baking, I cooked a batch of buckwheat.  I cut up the last bell pepper, half an onion and a small handful of cherry tomatoes to toss in a skillet.  While those were cooking, sliced up some Napa cabbage and added that to the skillet as well.   Tossed the buckwheat with some of the sauce, tossed some more on the veggies and added to the buckwheat. Gave that a good stir and tossed in some Thai basil leaves. Tofu came out of the oven, tossed it in the last of the sauce, then added to the bowl.  Tofu turned out a little softer than I would have liked but I was happy with the flavors overall.

[Katya4me]

I've had a can of Thai soup in the pantry and keep not making it because it calls for chicken and mushrooms to go with it.  I finally had those today and was in the mood for soup.  I cooked up 2 small chicken thighs and added some rice vermicelli noodles as well.  Very good lunch on a wet chilly day.

[dcandohio]

My sister is coming to visit, and I have been looking for a use for smoked pork loin that I bought at the Brazilian grocery store. I chopped up the pork loin, and I chopped up leftover french fries from the freezer, and with green onions, cheese and seasonings it all became a very nice crustless quiche.

[Katya4me]

I saw this recipe earlier this week and decided to try it today.  I had a smaller block of tofu and cut it into 6 slices, matching the size of the seaweed pieces. I got a bit confused and made the sauce before doing the tofu with the corn starch.  Meh...  We ultimately decided to put the sesame seeds inside the roll and not fry it.  We each ate 2 and the dipping sauce was a perfect match. We've got 2 pieces of tofu left along with the other ingredients to make 2 more rolls.  I can definitely see packing this for a weekday lunch.  

[Katya4me]

I made a batch of seitan a while back and found this recipe for vegan pastrami at that time.  I made it yesterday and had it for lunch today.  I'll confess that I'm not a vegan and didn't feel like tracking down the correct broth when I had beef broth handy.  The beet added great color and the rub and seasoned broth gave it great flavor.  I got about 25 slices so I've got lots of leftovers for the rest of the week. I meant to have it on pumpernickel bread but will remedy that for next time.

[Katya4me]

I wanted lentils for a packed lunch yesterday. After looking around at recipes and the pantry, I settled on this recipe for a Mediterranean lentil salad.  I really like that it included pistachios and radishes for a nice crunch, along with the bell pepper.  I ended up leaving the greens in the fridge but will try them with the leftovers.  

[Katya4me]

Made a salad for yesterday's and today's lunches that I'll call Italian inspired.  2 cans of tuna in water, 1 can of butter beans and 1 can of artichoke hearts.  Drain it all and add to bowl.  Sliver up 1/2 a yellow onion, chop up some frozen orange bell pepper slices, add to the bowl along with the last of a jar of capers.  Mix up some prepared pesto with olive oil, balsamic, lemon juice and some S&P, then mix in with the salad.  I divided it up and had part yesterday but I think it tastes even better today. 

[Katya4me]

On today's agenda, leftover Asian sesame noodle salad.  I had 1 cucumber, a large carrot and 1/2 of a very large daikon, so they all got spiralized and tossed in the bowl.  Really tasty and easy to make.

 

[Katya4me]

The other night, we made this pickled ginger salad but skipped the toasted flour step.  It was really good but used up all the lettuce we had.  Still had plenty of napa cabbage, so I remade it with that decided to skip the jalapenos as well.  Had it with some grilled shrimp and it is definitely a winner. Love the crunch and the tangy flavors.

[Katya4me]

We had some soft tofu and rice in the fridge along with some rice and the remaining marinade from our spicy watermelon poke bowls.  So I made Gochiso-Dofu (Decorated Tofu) for lunch. I used the marinade for the sauce and cut up some basil and green onion to top it. Super easy and great for a workday lunch.

[Katya4me]

Felt like empanadas and we had a massive butternut squash so made 2 different recipes: spiced butternut squash empanadas and butternut squash and mushroom empanadas .  I think I liked the spiced ones better but both are very good. I use frozen empanada wrappers and it makes it so easy. 

[dcandohio]

Yesterday I made a Thai inspired salmon curry with lots of spinach. I used lite coconut milk, because that’s what I had. The taste was lovely, even though the sauce was thinner than it would’ve been with full fat coconut milk.

[Katya4me]

My husband was gifted some persimmons from a coworker so we made lettuce cups with walnut meat.  Turned out really well and tasty.  Our lettuce leaves weren't the best for making cups so I had some of the filling and salsa topping on a salad for lunch yesterday.  Worked great that way too.

[Katya4me]

For lunch the other day, we made vegan rice paper dumplings.  Super easy to assemble, most time consuming part was letting the moisture cook out of the cabbage.  We skipped cooking the dumplings, so only did 1 paper and 2 dumplings each.  I would probably do a peanut sauce with it next time though. 

[Katya4me]

Today's lunch was tofu enchiladas, recipe by way of Australia.  Definitely not a traditional recipe, but I liked it.  Used canned crushed tomatoes for the canned tomatoes and skipped the cilantro.  I'd up the amount of cheese next time and maybe top with some chopped avocado for serving. It says 4 servings but we both thought 1 enchilada was enough for lunch. We ended up filling the pan with 9 tortillas and then poured the remaining filling over the top.

[Katya4me]

This weekend, I was looking for an easy recipe and this Fennel, Lentil and Smoked Trout Salad fit the bill.  I'd never used canned lentils before, but definitely would again.  I'm not a big fan of dill, so I used the fennel fronds instead.  I think slicing the fennel thinly was the only part that involved much effort and the flavors were strong but well-balanced.   

[Katya4me]

Lunch today was this very tasty Spicy Japchae. I had fried tofu and extra mushrooms, so I skipped including the fish cakes.  I might add a few more noodles next time but I enjoyed this twist in the traditional recipe.