Quick Summer Lunches

I'm in uncharted territory these days: lunch at home is not a meal that I am really familiar with. Back in the restaurant days, I had one day a week off and lunch was more likely than not something leftover from dinner service the night before, a meal out at a restaurant, or when we were hiking, quick trail food taken sitting on a rock or log somewhere. Lunch at home has been a meal that I have never cooked or put any thought whatsoever into.

Post-restaurant, it has been pretty much the same story. Even though my weekends doubled to two days a week off, it was rare that we would eat lunch at home. We would invariably get something while we were out and about.

Now in the middle of this pandemic, we're pretty well confined to the house, except for critical outings (to the store, doctor). Suddenly, for the first time in my life, I'm having to put some effort and thought into lunches. There are days when I don't make lunch and each of us fends for ourselves, but more often than not, I throw something together early afternoon for the two of us. This has required a total change of mindset on my part.

While I was working, I would make a cold cut sandwich to take to work to eat at my desk and in the first weeks after I lost my job, our home lunches were a continuation of work: cold cut sandwiches. Not only are cold cuts highly processed foods (something new to my diet since going to work at the winery), but they are wicked expensive, and having sandwich bread in the house has not helped with our quarantine-aided waistline expansions.

The instant reduction in our cashflow was the impetus to stop buying all that expensive and highly processed deli meat, while the pounds adding up from the boredom and depression of quarantine were the impetus to move back to more complex carbs.

These days, with forays to the grocery store every other week or so, we tend to plan our dinners in advance. Before I head out to the store, Ann and I make a list of dinners that we'd like to have in the next couple of weeks, and I make sure that we have all the necessary ingredients on hand for those meals. The meals aren't fixed and we deviate from the "plan" at will, but at least some thought has gone into dinner in advance.

Lunches do not get any significant amount of forethought. Sometimes when I am planning a dinner, I will plan for leftovers that may become lunch the following day. But more likely than not, I don't have a plan for lunch and that has led to some "What are we going to eat?" questions. 

I am evolving a strategy for lunch: keep plenty of dry goods in the pantry as well as a ready supply of vegetables in the fridge, items that can go into a quick lunch. My aim is to not spend time in the middle of the day cooking and to put tasty lunches on the table in under 10 minutes. 

While we have been eating a lot of eggs for lunches (frittatas, scrambles, huevos con chorizo, poached, etc.), during these summer weeks, I am focusing on fresh and quick vegetable dishes that come together with no forethought and little effort, one bowl vegetable salads essentially. For example, a couple weeks ago, I diced some leftover grilled vegetables and reheated them with a couple of cans of cannellini beans, a bit of fresh oregano, and a couple hands full of baby spinach leaves. A dollop of tzatziki on top gave us a delicious warm white bean salad.

Below are four recent cold vegetable dishes in the same mold:

Black Bean, Avocado, Corn, Tomato, and Lime Juice

Guacamole: Avocado, Tomato, Red Onion, Cilantro, Chile, Lime

Corn, Black Bean, Orange Pepper, Tomato, Cilantro, Lime

Roasted Filet Bean, Tomato, Corn, Cucumber, Pesto

So while I am still new to doing lunch at home, I think I am evolving a strategy for quick, delicious, healthy, and satisfying summer lunches. How that will evolve in the fall when fresh vegetables from the farmers market are scarce, I don't have a clue. I like to think that we'll be able to run out to a bar for a beer and a burger every now and again, but that doesn't seem very realistic, does it?