The Lunch Dilemma
Yesterday, after another round of feeling yucky after the cafetaria lunch I had put out a request on Facebook to collect some lunch ideas. Generally, I used to pack roti+sabzi in two boxes for me and Sankarshan. Sankarshan has never preferred the idea of having rice for lunch on a working day (and I agree too), so that was not a welcome option. Doing too many gymnastics with roti/parantha was again a problem, since being from a very sparsely roti-eating household kneading dough and rolling out rotis was an extremely time consuming activity for me. So I used cheats like oats-upma, idli, dosa, pasta, etc. Sandwiches are something we get tired of easily, because often we have bread in the morning. Also, I lunch with friends who are all vegetarians and since those 40 minutes of socialising are a high point of my workday, I prefer not to put any of them at unease. So well… my lunch food ideally ought to meet the following conditions:
vegetarian,
spare use of rice,
preferably one pot item,
avoid flour-kneading,
no maida,
somewhat nutrient+fibre balanced,
should not give a stomach ache, and most importantly
completed in 30 minutes
After a half-day long thread, the following are the ideas that I have gathered. The list includes non-vegetarian items which I am going to use for roadtrips.. and use vegetarian alternatives for my lunch. Here goes:
- Upma (Susan)
- Kathi rolls (Susan)
- Sandwich – Boiled vegetable stuffing (Kajori)
- Omlette – with vegetables (Zainab)
- Maggi made noodle style – with vegetables (Zainab)
- Egg + Potato + Vegetable Curry – (Zainab, perhaps this can also be used as a stuffing for sandwiches or kathi rolls)
- Sandwich – Boiled chicken+ mayo + salt + pepper (Anumita)
- Pasta – stir fry onions + crushed garlic+bell peppers+broccoli+mushrooms+boiled chicken+whatever works (Anumita)
- Pasta – chopped boiled eggs+chopped boiled potatoes+salt+pepper+ mayo (Anumita)
- Pasta – stirfry onions+ crushed garlic+pureed spinach. (Anumita) Additional Tip: Boil whole wheat pasta in large quantity and refrigerate (Anumita)
- Dalia Upma – with veggies (Anumita) and <a href=”http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091008042251AALlN4I”>Rajeshwar</a>
- Pasta – with seafood (Sprabhu) < a href=”http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/spaghetti-vongole-1″>Link</a>
- Biryani – (Sprabhu) < a href=”http://sprabhu.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html#2455925402285955116″>Link</a> Additional Tip: A rice cooker makes fluffy rice quickly.
- Poha – with onions, tomato, peas (Mamatha)
- Rotti (Karnataka speciality) - Rice powder+cumin+onions+salt+ green chillies + water to be made into a fist sized spreadable dough. Spead and toast this on a tawa for 10 mins with oil. (Mamatha)
- Curd Rice – with grated vegetables (Zainab)
- Sandwich – Assorted meats and egg filling (Saltwater Blues)
- Macaroni Salad – with boiled egg, nuts, fruits, vegetables (Paawun)
- Parantha – Assorted stuffings (Paawun)
- Pasta Salad with veggies and iceberg – light mayo+mustard dressing
- Pasta Salad with veggies and iceberg – olive oil+tabasco+lemon juice
- Pasta Salad with veggies and iceberg – basil + tomato + peanuts
Thank you very much everyone. This is going to be my lunch menu card and I hope I won’t get bored with this soon. Also I’ll keep adding more to the list.
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