Lunch

I've absolutely been adoring my lunches lately.   I repeat it every day because it's so enjoyable and filling and it's a great inoculation against being jealous of other people's food.   It's also really easy with just a little preparation:   Always have some cooked beans in the fridge, and bake a potato ahead of time.   Also cook up a bunch of vegetables every 2-3 days and store them in single serving (2 cup) containers.  I like to combine lots of veggies like onion, kale or cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, frozen okra (hard to get fresh where I live), maybe some tomato, zucchini, asparagus, whatever looks good in the produce aisle (don't buy it if it looks lame!).    So here's what I do for one of my favorite meals.   Take the potato, cut it into large bite-size pieces, add seasoning if you want, and broil it in the oven for 7-10 minutes to toast it.   Heat up 1/2-1 cup beans in them microwave.    Put the beans in your bowl, with liquid, add the crispy potatoes, enjoy.  You won't believe how good it is until you try it.   The potatoes eventually soak up the bean juice but don't get soggy.   If you take this into work for lunch, it still works without toasting the potatoes--just don't combine them with the beans until you are ready to eat them.  Or if I think I'll be out for lunch but home for dinner, I might switch my lunch and dinner meals.   The potatoes and beans, along with your pre-cooked veggies make a very delicious meal.  I eat this with my friends and I can't imagine wanting to eat their food.   Here's an example with some big black beans and tandoori seasoning on the potatoes:

Here was yesterday's lunch.  My "salad" was just a bunch of romaine pieces.  I was lazy.  Plus the romaine was unusually sweet and fresh so it was quite good.   My potatoes were seasoned with Penzy's Mural of Flavors, and the white beans asked to be served with tomatoes so I added some tomatoes from a can (from our garden last summer).  The veggies also asked for some tomatoes

Today I finished off that can of tomatoes on the beans, and drank the juice from the can (just a few oz). I had some blackberries too.  My salad was more proper, all cut up with some flax meal and high-quality balsamic vinegar added (diluted with water), but truthfully I think yesterday's salad was better.  Sometimes simple is better especially when the ingredients are fresh and high quality.