Monday's lunch

Leftover steamed broccoli di rabe, with tomatoes and pine nuts

Almond butter + jam rollup on whole wheat (quarantined to protect the squishy)

Muscat grapes! Yum.

Leftover wild rice

Week one of my Vegetarian Experiment! See notes for contents.

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Comments

frscspd says:

Say more about experiment -- what are you experimenting? What's the plan?
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

paul (england) says:

A pretty Mediterranean vegetarian, by the look of it.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

My plan is to eat vegetarian for a week and see if it helps me feel less angsty about meal planning. For a while I've been feeling very blah about cooking because I get tired of chicken, chicken, pork, chicken. Eating vegetarian doesn't allow me to eat exclusively local foods, which has been important to me lately, but it does allow me to eat a much lower carbon-footprint meal. Also, I think I am just tired of trying to squeeze meat protein into my lunches...focusing on vegetarian sources of protein will encourage me to be creative with my food instead of bored.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

paul (england) says:

I would say vegetarian is fine up to a point - just don't cut out the sardines! A couple of tins a week is the secret to all my wonderfulness, you know ... (I know, tins are bad - I don't know why God made sardines that way ... )
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

jesse k. says:

ooh, i do love tinned sardines! i could add them to my diet and become a pescatarian instead of a vegetarian. we'll see how this week goes before i reevaluate...really instead of Less Meat this week is more about More Vegetables.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

plangently says:

Mm, this all looks yummy! Also, I didn't know you had a laptop lunchbox -- you should come play in the laptop lunches pool!

I am a fan of vegetarian cooking, though I am not vegetarian and I don't think I ever have entire vegetarian weeks -- more like a vegetarian day here and there. I don't cook meat much, for various reasons, one of which is that I find that I get bored of meat-based meals really fast, or never get excited about them to begin with. This week I am on a chickpea curry kick -- mm chickpeas.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

jesse k. says:

yes, i have had one for a long time! but i had a couple years where i preferred my ms. bento lunch jar instead. i now have three different lunch-component things -- laptop, ms. bento, and a tupperware thing that has two inner containers and a built-in ice pack thing. yay for many lunch options!

i think my thinking on meat is all wrong -- portions too big, etc. i'm excited to see what it will be like when i cut it out entirely. already it feels kind of freeing! i bought chickpeas -- excited to try them. do you prepare them from dried? i have to look up some info on how to presoak.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

paul (england) says:

Oh, this is good, we're on a roll here (or maybe in one) - sardines and now chickpeas - my favourite pulse. Here's the secret: buy them dry (not too dry - not having been sitting round at the back of a health food shop shelf for 20 years), then when you soak them add sodium bicarbonate (aka bicarbonate of soda) to the water. They say you should always pour away the soak water, so I do, but very reluctantly, because it's probably absolutely teeming with vitamins. Anyway, then you add more sodium bicarbonate to the water when you cook them. You can't imagine the difference it makes to the time it takes. It's all about chemistry - and you absolutely MUST NOT add salt, because that has the opposite effect. If you want salt, add it at the very end.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

frscspd says:

I agree, hmmm chickpeas! The pulse from heaven. Dried ones are definitely superior to canned ones -- don't be tempted by the shortcut. I like them best just as they come out of the pan, still hot, with a splash of lemon + (really good) olive oil -- if you're feeling decadent, a grating of black pepper and some fresh rosemary may not come amiss. (Now that I think of it, sardines and chickpeas make a fantastic salad.)
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

jesse k. says:

hmm...i'd never heard of chickpeas referred to as pulse crops. (goes to google.) what a useful category to know! i would not have guessed that lentils and chickpeas (and peas/beans) could be grouped together.

i did buy them dried, i've never been a fan of the canned ones my mom used. i will try your sodium bicarbonate trick, paul! i do have some baking soda in the cupboard at home. thanks for the idea!
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Alyss says:

Beautiful lunch :) I was a vegetarian for years and I love the creativity that comes from being thoughtful about what you eat. I have chosen to go back to eating meat because I feel healthier when I eat fewer carbs.. hard to do on a vegetarian diet.. too many beans :) I think anytime you are being thoughtful about your food, be it vegetarian, local or macrobiotic or whatever, you will come away knowing more about your body and food in general.
If you can find them check out the Moosewood cookbooks. They are a vegetarian collective restaurant in upstate New York. They've got 8 or 10 or more cookbooks and all are amazing! My favorite is Sundays at Moosewood because it is a collection of ethnic, vegetarian recipes. Talk about sparking creativity :)
Keep us updated on the week of vegetarianism.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

jesse k. says:

good point about the carbs...though i am hoping to stick to high-fiber carbs that have a lower glycemic index. right now i'm trying to view white/refined carbohydrate foods as small components, focusing instead on grains and veggies.

you're so right about how thoughtfulness breeds creativity. i haven't looked at a moosewood cookbook in years, but i should! thanks for the recommendation :)
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

paul (england) says:

I'm really only interested in the nutritional side of food (rather than as "entertainment"). I would like to know whether (red) meat contains anything necessary for optimum health that isn't available any other way. (If I get a craving (just a few times a year), I go for a pack of pre-cooked organic Swedish meatballs (beef and pork mix) and eat them cold!) They say Sweden has the highest animal welfare standards in the world.

Stick to wholefoods would be my advice. No sugar, no fats or oils (but I like my EV olive oil sprinkled on just about everything savoury - and bread). No white flour. But then I think modern wheat is a baddie - all that gluten we struggle to digest. Carcinogenic acrylamide (reduced by 80% by proper fermentation - but most shop bread isn't made "properly" any more). My favourite cereal by a mile: O A T S! (Like chick peas within the pulse family, it's the one with plenty of oil in.)
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

jesse k. says:

no, i don't believe red meat has something special in it. just another form of protein, really.

i already do eat mostly whole foods. we don't buy processed foods much, and i buy as much of our groceries from local producers as i can. probably my worst indulgence is the occasional pasta-based dinner, otherwise we usually eat some variant of healthy protein + grain + vegetables. i like oats too, but only the steel-cut kind (scottish oats? pin oats? not sure what they're called in the uk), which we make in our rice cooker :)
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

paul (england) says:

You should live for ever then!

I call them "porridge oats", but I get the almost-powdery ones that don't need any cooking (i.e. turning into porridge), and after a good soak in the bridge are perfect for my muesliish breakfast. The best thing to have come out of Scotland, oats.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

Alyss says:

Red meat most likely does have stuff in it that no other food has (every kind of food is unique and has specific trace nutrients specific to it.. thats why variety is so important) but the biggies in red meat can be found elsewhere. Protein obviously can be found in almost any food. Red meat is high in iron but other food has that too, and red meat provides saturated fats which are vital to health.
Remember that every cell in your body is surrounded by an envelope of saturated fat (cell membranes), your brain is mostly saturated fat and so are the hormones that make you happy and sexy :) You need some saturated fat in your diet but it can be found in eggs, butter and cheese as well as coconut oil if you aren't down with the dairy. I'm not saying you should snack on butter smeared on cheese, but make sure you get some fatty dairy, eggs or coconut product a couple times a week. They don't pair fat and happy together for no reason ;)
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

jesse k. says:

you're so right about the macronutrients. i don't think i'll die from not eating steak, and i don't think i would go without it totally anyway -- i really relish a good steak on occasion! and i definitely have lots of eggs and dairy in my diet! i am not a big fan of low-fat dairy stuff, so i tend to go for smaller amounts of full-fat, artisanal cheeses or milk :) this week i'm trying to experiment without going instantly to beans and to cheese (my go-to faves when i was a teenage vegetarian!) for my protein sources -- i'm trying to spread out and learn more about food variety instead.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

paul (england) says:

I think I read something recently about something in red meat (not a "biggie" or trace element) that we need (or are better off with) for something. But I'm damned if I can remember what. Logically, since cows are vegetarians, you'd think if they can manage to produce everything they need to be cows, then maybe we should be able to too. Although they don't have our brains, I suppose.

I don't go for low fat either. Full-fat cheese but try to resist butter. I don't think sat fats are good though (gum up our arteries) and I'm pretty sure we can synthesise them from unsats (that's why they're not called "essential"). Omega 3s are vital (hence the sardines) and we consume way too little of them and way too much omega 6 (and that imbalance is very bad for us).

I like Greek feta cheese - which is from sheep (and the odd goat) and has less saturated fat. I like the idea of those (organic) Greek sheep gambolling around the Grecian hills eating fresh green grass, lapping up all that sun and turning it into vitamins for me. Rather than something that's come out of an unhappy, caged cow in a miserable, dark shed in Holland, say.
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

paul (england) says:

Talking of appetising meals (though non-vegetarian in this case):
www.flickr.com/photos/rakeamanake/2446985818
Posted 20 months ago. ( permalink )

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Monday's lunch

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frscspd says:

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