Office Lunch

Spring and really from here on out, will be crazy busy at work. We have a lean budget and staffing levels are at a keep the lights on level. Morale is good though, and wanting to keep it that way, my office mates and I have been looking for little ways to keep energies up. We just wrapped up a significant stretch of a project in my program so I decided to bring in lunch on Friday. I've mentioned my affinity for a nice warm day soft rain. It started raining Saturday night and didn't stop until Thursday. Even us ducks get sick of that much rain. Plus, the temps have been cold 30"s and 40"s, making the wet just get into your bones. Friday the sun broke through, and it was gorgeous.  What better lunch than a bright salad. 

Nothing for my salad was bought on sale, except perhaps the chicken, so when I share prices, these are pretty accurate every days costs at my local grocery store. Had a I planned ahead and bought things at Aldi's or on sale, I probably would have spent 20% less. Eight people ate a substantial salad. Even factoring a $6,99 lunch special salad at our local Old Chicago, it would have been $56.00, not counting tax and tip for our crew to go out for lunch. It took less than 30 minutes for my shopping and prep at home as I already had the chicken cooked and in two pound portions in the freezer. Everything was kept separate and we made up our own salads in the amounts of what we each wanted. 

$4.99     tub of baby spinach greens
$2.00     1 pound tub strawberries
$3.34     2 pounds sliced chicken breast
$1.99     package of sunflower/pumpkin seed mix
$2.50     1 bottle raspberry vinaigrette dressing
$1,99     1 loaf crusty french bread
$2,99     1 tub of hummus
$19.80    Total

Not too shabby, and it was delicious. We have some gardeners in our group, so I think we'll be getting some really great salads going forward. Potlucks are good options in offices, but sometimes it is just nice to get treated to lunch. We can't use any agency funds for perks, but we can treat each other. I'll be in a salad kind of mood here on out. What's your favorite lunch salad? Do you have any combinations or ways of serving that have been successful with your work crew?

Anything Salad

I read once in some food snobbery cooking article that a dish made with cold pasta should never be called a salad and furthermore should never be considered good food. If my memory serves, this officious twit, went on to chronicle culinary horrors of a summer food buffet with an assortment of these dishes, and they left wondering what the world of entertaining has come to.  Well this soul has never been invited to my holiday gatherings or the ones held by my friends and family, and if he showed up, he might go away hungry. Of course one needs to be careful about keeping food cold, but I wouldn't dream that someone could call my mother's tuna salad, made with mayonnaise, "botulism in a bowl." Just rude. 

Personally, one of my favorite things about warm weather is the ease of getting food together in short order, and often with pantry staples.  We are a long way out from farmers markets and garden produce, but the quality of canned and frozen vegetables has improved, even in bargain brands, and combined with a nice el dente pasta, some seasonings, oil and vinegar, a beautiful salad can be made in minutes. I just made one with some rainbow rotini noodles, a can of diced tomatoes, some red peppers in a jar, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and generous amounts of garlic powder, Italian seasoning blend, and black pepper.   DD#1 made dinner for friends last night and there was leftover cauliflower crumbles so I threw them in as well.  Red wine vinegar would have been nicer, but not what I had on hand. 

Last weekend I used a box of penne pasta, diced tomatoes, rinsed cannelloni beans, olives, and used two partial bottles of salad dressing.  This was hauled to the cabin and went well with still leftover (frozen) from the funeral in March ham and potatoes we ate on a break from cleaning. There were even leftovers that DD#1 took for lunch the next day.  My family and friends will be enjoying salads of all kinds, made with anything I can pull out of my refrigerator or pantry this summer. I like the economy, the variety, the nutrition value, and the ease. Those with more refined palates are welcome to join, but keep can keep their opinions to themselves.

Broccoli salad, Roasted Yams and Carrots, Taco Dip

The following three dishes were my contributions, along with plenty of wine, to the Thanksgiving feasts.

Broccoli Salad
five cups (roughly two heads) of raw broccoli florets
1 cup raisins
1 cup sunflower seeds
6-8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup Mayonnaise or salad dressing
2 Tbls sugar
2 Tbls cider vinegar

Mix sugar and vinegar until dissolved, stir in the mayonnaise until smooth and creamy. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, reserving 1/3 of the bacon crumbles.  Pour dressing over the salad and stir with rubber scraper, to ensure each  floret has dressing, nd t distribute raisins, sunflower seeds, and bacon bits.  Pour n serving bowl, top with remaining bacon.

Roasted Yams and Carrots
Wash and scrub 4 medium size yams, and 5-6 large carrots.  Peel if you prefer.  Slice the yams in pieces bout the size of an adult thumb.  Do same with carrots, though try and get pieces about a third thinner than the yam pieces. Put veggies in a bowl and generously shake with cinnamon-I estimate I used probably 3 Tbls.  Sprinkle about 1/2 to 1 tsp. salt, and same with pepper, but use more pepper to taste if you like.  Stir in bowl to get seasoning over all vegetables.  coat all vegetables with Olive oil, or a light vegetable oil-your preference, (I use Olive oil for almost all cooking) Spread out vegetables in a single layer on a large baking sheet.  Bake in over for 30 minutes.  after 30 minutes, stir, and check for softening-they should be getting soft, but not mushy at this stage.  If still hard, keep baking and check in 5 minute intervals.  Once soft, but still with firmness, stir, and then sprinkle brown sugar over the single layer.  Roast for another 10 minutes to let the sugar caramelize.  Pour in serving bowl, scraping the good flavored glaze over the top.  If you like a nuttier taste, you can put under the broiler for a coup minutes, which will brown up and even crisp the sugars, but watch carefully. 

Taco Dip-embarrassingly easy
1 brick 8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup Salsa or picante-chunkier the better, hotness to your preference
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese cheddar or Monterey jack or Colby
1-2 cups shredded lettuce
10-12 black olives sliced
diced small tomato

Combine cream cheese and salsa until blended but chunky texture.  Spread on a large plate or platter.  spread 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese over the cream cheese mixture.  Top with the Lettuce, spread across the base, followed by the rest of the cheese, and then the black olives and tomatoes on top.  chill at least an hour for the base to firm up.  Serve with tortilla chips.   I often omit the tomato in the winter if the tomato's are expensive and not good quality, but personally would never leave off the olives!

Last of the Summer Gardens

Cool fall weather motivates me to get in the kitchen and cook and bake up a weeks worth of humble and tasty dishes.  That will not be today.  September 28th, 2014, while may not make the record books, we are at a hot and sunny 81 degree temperature.  I stopped yesterday at one of the roadside stands and  people were five deep to pick up sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons-the last of the summer bounty.  The acorn and butternut squash looked superb but I have a hard time enjoying the if I'm not wearing a sweater.  I was planning on sharing a few thoughts and a recipe or two on tasty fall morsels but am switching gear and sharing my ad hoc recipe for tomato, onion, and cucumber salad. 

I make a pig out of myself with it, but it is one of those treats that doesn't allow me to eat in  moderation.  I can reason that it is full of healthy vegetables, and vinegar and all things that our bodies need.  My hubby teases me and asks if I m making my "delicacy". While not a delicacy , it is one of the simple pleasures that you can't put a price tag on.  Well, actually, you can as I would estimate this cost me less than $2.00 to make a big huge mixing bowl worth, since I used free onions from a colleagues dad's farm, a $1.00 huge beefy tomato, and two cucumbers that were just 3 for $1.00.  You fortunate and talented gardeners can make for almost nothing . 

Above is my purchases from the stand, plus the last of the onions from my work friend.  I probably would have bought more if I had more than $3.00 cash on me. We've been enjoying the gift onions all week in stir fried potatoes, fajitas, and my daughters Spanish omelets.

The salad couldn't be easier.  Here it is-everything is approximate as I never measure:
3 TBLS sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup mayonnaise (or what was left from scraping the sides of the jar in this case)
2-3 small-medium onions
2-3 small- medium cucumbers
1-2 firm tomatoes
lots of pepper and salt to taste

Dissolve sugar in vinegar, add mayo, salt, and lots of pepper.  Stir until mixed. Thinly slice onions and loosen into rings or thin long slices. Thinly slice cucumber.  Slice and then 1/4 tomato into chunks. If you choose, salt vegetables before putting in with the dressing to get some of the water out.  I never bother with this.  Mix veggies into dressing, stir and cover them, add more pepper if you want (I love lots of pepper).  Cover and chill until really cold,  dressing is very watery, almost like pickle juice, but oh so delicious. 

All can be altered to your preference and degree of dressing you want. I know others leave out the mayo but I like the flavor and the creaminess it provides. I make a lot of the dressing, and then let the veggies marinate for a while.  It might seem a little wasteful, but I often then slice another 1/2-full cucumber and onion to the leftover dressing in the bowl and put back in the refrigerator for the next day.  We ate half last night, and will finish it off today with some pulled chicken sandwich's.

True fall will come back, and winters are long here in Minnesota.  We'll soon be indulging in soups, stews, baked breads, and squash. But for today, we'll eat like it is still August.