Lunch 2024

[C. sapidus]

Tiny bok choy and red chard, stir-fried with onion, ginger, garlic, habaneros, fermented black beans, and dou ban jian, and then braised with chicken stock. Paneer cheese warmed in the broth, and then finished with oyster sauce and Thai basil. Typical Indian-Thai-Sichuan mashup (😉) with a nice medley of flavors and textures.

 

[blue_dolphin]

Charred Asian greens and farro with soy tahini from Tenderheart with seared ahi tuna

 

[Neely]

Delicious lunch @blue_dolphin above.

We are visiting family in another city and taking the opportunity to have a few meals in restaurants. This was lunch in a very nice place in the Southern Highlands south of Sydney. 
Pumpkin and coconut soup with warm whole meal rolls was delicious. 
 

[C. sapidus]

Dinner leftovers: Bombay curry with chicken and potato, turmeric rice, and half a sweet potato with butter. Stir-fried baby bok choy did not survive the meal. Pakistani guest made green chutney with yogurt.

 

For the curry we marinated cut up chicken thighs with ginger-garlic paste, and then sauteed chopped onion with curry leaves. Masala was garlic, ginger, dried chiles, cashews, coriander, cumin, white poppy seed, cinnamon, cloves, and turmeric. Sauce was thinned coconut milk, finished with tamarind.

 

 

[BonVivant]

Udon noodles/mushrooms/prawns.

Udon/tofu/doenjang (a type of Korean fermented soy bean paste)

 

------------
Raclette toastie

 

Oats with a mix of various nuts and seeds (takes seconds to pulse in a FP).

 

-----------------
Bucatini/meatballs/creamy dill sauce.

 

----------------------
For my latest marmalade I used Limon Rosso from Valencia. Limon Rosso is aromatic but nothing like bergamot, which is just aMAzing. Yellow like regular lemons on the inside. Very juicy.

 

Have been eating this lately. Very sweet and bright orange flesh. Will buy again in the autumn.

 

Here it was at the farm

Has been "trending" since antiquity. This is Spitzkohl ("pointed" cabbage) as seen in the field. I like the purple version more but it's only available in autumn.

 

[blue_dolphin]

A quick miso mussel chowder from Julia Turshen's Small Victories

 

[Neely]

More dishes we had for lunch with our son.

Edited to add…  normal home cooked lunches coming up. 

 

Burrata

 

 

 

Duck terrine

 

Arancini

 

Cute outdoor restaurant 

Edited March 18 by Neely (log)

[Kim Shook]

Lunch the other day was a hot chicken sandwich with gravy, dressing, mashed potatoes, and salad greens with Dorothy Lynch dressing (thanks  @Shelby!):

 

Without:

 

And WITH 😍:

 

Yesterday being Sunday is considered “little Easter” and we get to eat out (we’ve given up restaurant eating for Lent and will be donating the $$ we save to the food pantry and an Iranian family our church is sponsoring)!  We went to a Greek place we hadn’t been to in a long time.  We ordered the small mixed grill and shared it.  For $24 we got fries:

Greek salad:

 

Choban salad, pita, tzatziki, stewed green beans, beefteki, chicken souvlaki, and lamb/beef gyro:

Everything was delicious and probably enough food for 4 people. 

 

[blue_dolphin]

Hasselback Sweet Potatoes with Garlicky Caper and Thyme Oil from Tenderheart

I enjoyed eating each tender slice of sweet potato with a fork full of lentils but, as written, this needs a kick in the butt.  I think diced, preserved lemon would do the trick. I tossed the lentils with some mustard vinaigrette I had in the fridge and it worked well.  

[blue_dolphin]

Grilled Baby Bok Choy with Miso-Gochujang Butter and Crispy Chickpeas from Tenderheart

Excellent combination of textures and flavors. The chickpeas get dusted with chickpea flour, gochugaru, S & P and a drizzle of olive oil before baking until they are crispy. 

[BeeZee]

Had a meeting the next town over and finally was able to stop in a place serving Thai style chicken and rice which opened a couple of months ago (www.gainyc.com  - it's a franchise location). It's quick serve, order from kiosk and mostly take out. I ate mine at one of the tables. Ordered the steamed white meat bowl ($12.95) which had a nice portion of steamed chicken over ginger rice with ginger chili sauce on the side (a little sweet, very more-ish) and some clear broth which had a definite kick. I felt like it was a pretty darn healthy lunch. They do, of course, offer other options from the less-healthy side (fried chicken, fries, wings...). I'd get the steamed chicken again.

 

[KennethT]

4 hours ago, BeeZee said:

Had a meeting the next town over and finally was able to stop in a place serving Thai style chicken and rice which opened a couple of months ago (www.gainyc.com  - it's a franchise location). It's quick serve, order from kiosk and mostly take out. I ate mine at one of the tables. Ordered the steamed white meat bowl ($12.95) which had a nice portion of steamed chicken over ginger rice with ginger chili sauce on the side (a little sweet, very more-ish) and some clear broth which had a definite kick. I felt like it was a pretty darn healthy lunch. They do, of course, offer other options from the less-healthy side (fried chicken, fries, wings...). I'd get the steamed chicken again.

 

I don't know about healthy - usually the rice for chicken rice (all over SE Asia) is first tossed in chicken fat prior to cooking in chicken stock. But certainly tasty!

[blue_dolphin]

Salad of Pears, Hazelnuts and Blue Cheese with Pumpkin Tarts with Spinach and Gorgonzola, both from Roast Figs, Sugar Snow by Diana Henry

Yeah, I forgot to put the blue cheese on the salad until AFTER I took the photo! 

[MaryIsobel]

7 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Salad of Pears, Hazelnuts and Blue Cheese with Pumpkin Tarts with Spinach and Gorgonzola, both from Roast Figs, Sugar Snow by Diana Henry

Yeah, I forgot to put the blue cheese on the salad until AFTER I took the photo! 

Oh my gosh - I can taste those pears - with or without the blue cheese!

 

[Dejah]

Costco Polish Hot Dog on brioche bun:

                                                                                       

 

 

Hot & Sour Soup

 

                                                                                      

[blue_dolphin]

2 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

Oh my gosh - I can taste those pears - with or without the blue cheese!

 

Thanks!  Pears can be tough to nail the perfect ripeness for salads so I thought this method of using slightly underripe pears and browning the slices in butter was smart and one I should remember!

[KennethT]

8 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Thanks!  Pears can be tough to nail the perfect ripeness for salads so I thought this method of using slightly underripe pears and browning the slices in butter was smart and one I should remember!

I'm a fan of pears sauteed in butter with a lot of black pepper.

[Dejah]

Went out to a favourite local diner for lunch with a friend: Komfort Kitchen. Breakfast and lunch is their specialty.
Eggs Benedict is the Sat special, and I had my first today! It was very good! Might have to go again 😉

                                                                                          

 

 

[Neely]

This was more brunch than lunch. Salad with my much liked pomegranate seeds and croutons.

 

 

[BonVivant]

I had some leftover black lentils.

 

Rest of the spread: blood sausage, Mettwurst, beetroot-walnut spread, natto, smoked sprats.

 

---------------
Soft tofu with seaweed

 

Roe and salmon (quinoa underneath)

 

I'm particularly fond of roe.

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

Yesterday, I made the Orecchiette with Asparagus + Feta from Nik Sharma's Veg-Table. 

He blitzes some feta, hot pasta water and turmeric in the blender.  Once it's added to the pasta, it turns in to a light but creamy sauce that makes for a very pretty and sunny plate of pasta.  

Sadly, I did not like it one bit.  Well, the asparagus was good.  I think the tomatoes, dill, turmeric and preserved lemon were fighting each other in some way. At least 2 of them should be kicked out of the dish for not getting along.  And, if I'm adding feta to my pasta, I'd prefer tangy crumbles rather than having it liquified.  

 

 

Edited March 26 by blue_dolphin (log)

[OlyveOyl]

Gravlax from a small piece of wild salmon, cured under weights in two days.  Accompanied by potato salad with dill/capers, cucs, avo, radish with vinaigrette and lightly pickled red onions.

[NadyaDuke]

My husband made sourdough and I had the foresight to pickup some good French ham yesterday. Made a sandwich with dijon, Tillamook sharp cheddar and ham and served with a Cosmic Crisp apple, my current favorite. 

[Neely]

@OlyveOyl and lightly pickled red onions… love these and so easy. I’m glad I’ve discovered them. 

[blue_dolphin]

Spicy Cauliflower Ragu with Lemony Breadcrumbs from The Cook You Want to Be by Andy Baraghani:

I thought this was OK,  not great.  The cauliflower gets blitzed in the food processor and, in the header notes, he describes the smaller pieces as becoming "velvety" like long-cooked meat in a ragu. Perhaps I should have cooked it longer but they were just cauliflower particles, not velvet.  Good flavor from onion, garlic tomato paste and lots of anchovies.  Using the tangy, crunchy breadcrumbs instead of cheese is a nice touch.