Lunch-staraunt week

I just threw together this persimmon carpaccio salad from Herbivoracious.  I feel ridiculously fancy, packing this in my lunch. No one has to know that it came together in under 10 minutes.

Also in my lunch are tom yum soup, rice crackers, chocolate, and clementines.

Excellent Spring Rolls

This week our friend J. is visiting, and it was her idea to make spring rolls.  Yesterday we had spring rolls for dinner, and then wrapped up all the extra vegetables to make lunch.  My lunch today is four very fat spring rolls with peanut sauce, cherries & almonds, a Korean pear, and cake.  These spring rolls are deliciously refreshing - they're basically salad in finger-food form.  We used a variety of veggies for filling:

• Pan-fried tofu
• Shaved carrots
• Avocado
• Pea sprouts
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Salad greens
• Green onions

I had to invent a peanut sauce recipe, because they often contain fish sauce which is incompatible with us being vegetarian.  Here's how I made mine:

• Start with a lot of peanut butter.  Probably at least a third of a cup, maybe half.
• Mix in orange juice until it's liquid enough, or perhaps just barely too thick (maybe 1/4 cup).
• Add soy sauce for salt.
• Add a tablespoon or so of chili garlic sauce.
• Add about a teaspoon of honey.
• Use a tablespoon or two of rice vinegar to adjust for acidity.

Festive Holiday Dinner Becomes Hearty Lunch

Yesterday F. and I rounded up a gaggle of friends and visited a local pick-your-own Christmas tree farm.  I chose this particular farm because it also featured cider donuts and a petting zoo.  Once the Tree Team had safely ensconced the tree in our living room and decorated it within an inch of its life, we ate a festive, somewhat rustic dinner: these chipotle-spiked mashed sweet potatoes (though I might have spiked them a little harder than the recipe called for); these stuffed mushrooms (with dried cherries added to the stuffing); these dijon-braised brussels sprouts, and a pomegranate-pear-blue cheese salad.  Our intrepid friend E. made a strenuous trek on public transportation while carrying a freshly-baked hazelnut raisin cake.  After a lovely and slightly overwhelming dinner, I taught everyone how to play "I Spy" properly. 

Now the leftovers from that dinner are finding a second life as my lunch for the first half of this week.  I'm looking forward to celebrating Christmas Tree Quest Day all over again at lunchtime.