Show me your lunch!

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  • Tech dummy here so I'll describe: Left over grilled lamb and fresh vegetable curry (carrots, peas, a few new potatoes, zucchini) on a bed of chopped braised kale, onion, garlic and bell pepper. Our garden overflows with potatoes, carrots, kale and zucchini right now so we'll be eating it till frost hits.
  • Quote: Dieting is not difficult.

    This is why:



    My lunch...salad with pan-seared scallops, pickled garlic, hummus, spinach and artichoke cheese dip, tsatsiki, small piece of lunch herring, 4 salted anchovies (soaked to lower the sodium), corn, kidney beans, lettuce, grape tomatoes, mushrooms, red onion, blueberries, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, pickled onion.
    I'm glad to see one of your concoctions finally. You lost me at pickled garlic + herring + blueberries but I'm glad to see a dieter move beyond the boring old grilled chicken breast. More powa to ya brotha.
  • Quote: Tech dummy here so I'll describe: Left over grilled lamb and fresh vegetable curry (carrots, peas, a few new potatoes, zucchini) on a bed of chopped braised kale, onion, garlic and bell pepper. Our garden overflows with potatoes, carrots, kale and zucchini right now so we'll be eating it till frost hits.
    Do you have a cell phone and a computer? Alls you have to do is take a picture on your phone, and then email it to your own email address. On your computer create a file called "Food Photos" or whatever you like to call it. Open the email, on your computer and then right click on the photo. Click "save image as" and and send it to that new file you created.

    Then at 3FC, reply to this message and on the top of the box where you type your message look for the little paperclip symbol next to the happy face. Click it, click "choose file" and it will travel to your files and attach. This might make no sense but I hope it helps.

    I've never made a curry. Do you just sautee the vegetables and add a curry powder or do more ingredients go in?
  • For two: I start with 2T olive oil and add the following spices:

    1 bay leaf
    partial cardamom pod
    1 inch stick cinnamon
    5 peppercorns
    3 whole cloves

    Heat the above spices in the oil until the fragrance releases and they start sizzling.

    I add 1/4 cup broth, (chicken or vegetable) and a smallish white or yellow onion chopped fine and saute until the onion is golden.

    I stir in 1 T fresh grated ginger root
    1 large clove of minced garlic
    1 small green chili pepper chopped (can be omitted if spicy isn't your thing)
    a pinch of tumeric
    1 t coriander powder
    1/2 t cayenne pepper (again, this can be omitted)
    2 t garam masala
    Note: If you don't have the bottom 4 spices, 1 short T of curry powder works instead

    Stir spices into the cooking onions adding water to keep moist. It should resemble a watery paste in consistency.

    At this point I cut the leftover lamb from the chops in bite size pieces (could be any meat or none at all) add to the pot with 1-1.5 cups of water or broth and add slowest cooking vegetables at that time like carrots and potato cut into bite sized chunks.

    On a medium heat, stir and add desired chopped vegetables (peas, cabbage, cooked lentils, summer squash) in progression of their cooking times. Finally add one peeled and chopped tomato (I use a small can of Rotel to save time, lower the water amount a bit and skip the green chili if I'm in a hurry)

    Keep adding enough water as you are cooking to keep the curry easy to stir, to allow vegetables to cook without breaking up and to keep from sticking. Add .5 to 1 cup of water as needed, reduce heat to low. Add heaping 2T plain yogurt and stir to break up. Cook on low heat until vegetables are fork tender and sauce has thickened up. Pick out the bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cardamom pod and serve over braised cabbage, kale or eat alone with a bit of fresh chopped cilantro.

    It sounds harder than it is. Gathering all the spices and prep is the hardest part IMO. I do all my chopping before I start. Using grilled leftover meat (or vegetables) imparts a lovely smoky flavor to the curry. It is rich tasting without a lot of calories and practice makes perfect.

    Bon appetit.
  • And thanks for the photo tutorial. I'll have my husband read it and to walk me through it. My cell phone is old school but we have a digital camera so he should be able to convert the instructions and show me how it's done.
  • Man y'all's lunches are so much more creative than mine. I just had a pb&j with baby carrots, string cheese, and an oatmeal pie. Woohoo!
  • I just had a pb&j with baby carrots, string cheese, and an oatmeal pie

    That will do too. We are trying to eat vegetables as they come out of the garden and enjoy them in a variety of ways. I'm making chicken vegetable soup with a bit of caribou kielbasa today. We will probably eat a variation on your lunch theme on the road out of AK next month.
  • OH MY! Such gorgeous food. Wanna, and Ian, I loved both your pictures...that is what food is supposed to look like! Colorful and beautiful! (although I would have skipped on the herring :P ) So I can't upload a pic of my lunch today because...I already ate it! But it was homemade quiche made with milk and whole wheat crust plus 3 cups sauteed spinach, garlic, diced red pepper, onion, and pattypan squash from the garden. I call it loaded quiche...loaded with veggies! Oh, plus 1/4 c. pepperjack cheese. Bonus: my two toddlers ate it too. I want to try some of these lunches your posting!

    Any ideas for purple kale or tomatoes would be appreciated as my garden is drowning in purple kale and tomatoes.
  • Vintage that sounds like the real thing! Now I have to see a picture! I'm pretty pod at cooking, I can give this a shot and try to impress my husband!