I'm always on the lookout for easy lunches I can fix in the office. We've got a microwave, a toaster oven, a refrigerator, a mixing bowl, a grater, a cutting board and some knives. If the preparation requires anything else, forget about it. Now, that being said, there's an awful lot you can do with that equipment...
One of the few catalogues I read cover to cover is Penzeys. We've got one of their stores about two miles up the street. Lucky us because their herbs and spices are just wonderful!!! Every once in a while, I'll try a recipe from the catalogue. I love it because they actually use their name in the ingredient list. I don't have to label every recipe because it'll say PENZEY'S DILL WEED or whatever. Subtle clues I can work with :-) This recipe wound up being a total winner. Since I was teaching a Social Security class the evening I made this for lunch, we wound up having open-faced tuna sandwiches for dinner too. And, both of us were happy as all get out to have another serving of the tuna salad.
Most of the time in the office, Annie sleeps in Connie's office. There are three exceptions. One, in the morning she loves to sleep in the pools of sunshine on my floor. Two, when there are clients in my office and there's an opportunity for a poor pitiful dog to get some dog rubs. And, three, when I'm fixing lunch. Then, she's right outside the kitchen door awaiting her lunchtime dog treat and whatever scraps I see fit to toss her way. See how she knows exactly where the kitchen starts? She's such a wonderful pooch!
Tuna Dill Pita Pockets
Ingredients:
2 T shredded carrot
1/2 c finely chopped red onion
2/3 c diced celery
3 cans tuna (we use chunk light since it tends to have less mercury)
2 t lemon juice
1/2 t dill weed
salt and pepper
1/3 c mayonnaise
1/2 c grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
pita pockets - one per person
fresh spinach
Directions:
Mix the carrot
Onion
Celery
Tuna, lemon juice, dill
And mayonnaise.
Heat the pita pockets and cut them in half.
Put a couple of tablespoons of the grated cheddar in each pita pocket while it's still very warm.
Add tuna salad and some fresh spinach
Saturday morning was a rather lazy morning. I worked on the blog for about an hour then finally logged onto the office computer and dug into email. Connie was sleeping in so I had a couple of hours of computer time in by the time he finally woke up. After he'd read the paper and had his coffee, he was ready and raring to go. I was still happily reading emails. But, it was time to head to the farmer's markets. Talk about packed. At the Broad Ripple market we had to wait in a huge line of cars to find a place to park. Bill and Maria had a wonderful basket for us this week. Basil, tomatoes, corn, apples, eggplant... I picked up some zucchini while we were there. Then, it was off to the Binford market for dog treats, a box of peaches, some cheese curds and a couple of little strip steaks. Along the way I read the Olives Table by Todd English and came up with TONS of ideas for all of our produce. And, a few ideas for later...LOL, just a few. We had to take all of our loot home and pick up the dogs. I had clients due at noon so lunch had to be quick. There are few things quicker than tuna salad in a tomato! And, we had some gorgeous tomatoes. I grabbed the rather sorry looking celery out of the frig at home and headed for the pantry for a jar of capers. Then, we were off to the office. Lo and behold, the folks who came in at noon brought us two huge bags of goodies. There were summer apples, some incredible green beans, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes. On top of that, some clients who came in on Thursday brought us a couple of huge cucumbers. Let's just say we have plenty of veggies for the next week. Which is a very good thing because I found plenty of recipes for them! But, let's start with an easy tuna salad...
Then the artichoke hearts.
Then the capers (I probably used 2 T but we love capers...)
Then, lemon juice to taste.
Finally, add just enough mayo to get all the ingredients to stay together.
Then, cut the tomato into wedges and put them on a plate. Put a mound of tuna salad in the middle of the tomato wedges.
