and sometimes it's a salad with a side of yogurt. Okay, not very often, but sometimes. And that sometimes may very well coincide with the sometimes that you really need to go grocery shopping. Sometimes.
1. lettuce
2. goat cheese
3. beets
4. Sporadic Cook squash
5. almonds
1. yogurt
2. dried fruit and nuts
I know continuum isn't the right word to use here but dammit people, I am TIRED. And hot. And also a spy. So about that job thing ... yeah. The soul-sucking continues. It's been so bad this week that we are being forced to combine sweet precious lunch time with, well, with work. I know right?!?!?
Today was a proud day though, know why? See that picture? I totally took it on the sly with my phone. What you don't see is that there were other people there, crowded around my desk, eating sad little lunches and talking about stupid boring work and then there was me, surreptitiously snapping away, documenting the Summer of the Sandwich. For you. I did it for you.
1. cucumber and cream cheese sandwich
2. blueberries and yogurt
3. pickle stabbed through with a festive drink umbrella
1. chicken korma curry
2. rice
3. http://lunchbucketbento.blogspot.com/2008/05/lunch-bucket-o-curry.html
4. grapes
5. garlic naan (not shown)
Yeah, the curry? Not so good. I bought that same stupid Patak sauce that I didn't like the last time I bought it. And I still don't. Like it that is. You know what I do like though? La Fuji Mama's Pumpkin Palooza series. It's seriously awesome, nothing like that stupid korma, trust me.
1. barbecued pork chop
2. potato salad
3. green beans & red peppers
4. Greek yogurt with honey
5. granola in Kitty's head
Adorable little long-eared wonder pup? Or insidious Sanrio virus causing grown women to crave tiny anthropomorphic plastic products? Either way, I was powerless to resist. I saw this tiny Cinnamoroll bento box at the gift shop at Maui Tropical Plantation. $4.95 and 40% off. So I had to buy it. Not just because it was cheap though people. I had to buy it because I remembered that I had THIS!
Sucker.
Time for Margot's Healthy Lunchbox event! 
1. ham slices rolled around cream cheese and bell pepper
2. grape tomatoes
3. vanilla yogurt with pomegranate arils
4. honey roasted almonds
5. peanut butter stuffed dates
A few weeks ago I was food shopping with the boy. He asked if he could pick the fish and I said sure. The last time I did this we had halibut. At 24 bucks a pound. But whatever. Anyway, one of the choices was orange roughy. He'd never heard of it and asked what it was like. I realized then that I hadn't seen orange roughy in years. It was one of those hot menu items back in the late 80's though. Remember? Every piece of fish slapped on a plate was either orange roughy or red snapper. Blackened. And then it was gone. Weird how that happens no? As it turns out we did get the roughy, and as it turns out the boy prefers halibut. Naturally. Not that I blame him, I've had tastier fish sticks.
Today I read Garrett at Vanilla Garlic describe theRockstar Ingredient Theory, the comments are interesting - seems everyone agrees that ROCKSTARS exist but no one really knows how something gets to be a ROCKSTAR to begin with. Like ramps. Seriously.
Of course sometimes things are popular and trendy because they just taste so damn good. Like beets and goat cheese. I do so love the two tastes together. (Even the beet hating boy agrees!) If beet and goat cheese salad hadn't achieved ROCKSTAR status I'd probably never tried it on my own. I suppose the same could be said for ramps, but did anyone ever really think orange roughy was good?
1. steak, rare
2. *'burnt potatoes'
3. vanilla yogurt with blackberries
4. retro salad with beets, goat cheese and walnuts with, wait for it, balsamic vinaigrette on the side
*burnt potatoes aren't really burned, it's just what we call them to differentiate between other kinds of fried potatoes. They are sort of pan fried with onions, but not really messed with so the bottom gets brown and crispy and the middle steams.
Look! I got a lunch bucket! I customized it with stickers :)
Look! I got a lunch bucket! I customized it with stickers :) I'm so excited I said it twice!
To celebrate the occasion, I made a curry. Of course!
1. chicken korma
2. basmati rice
3. apple berry skillet crumble
4. pomegranate raita
About that curry....I used a Patak sauce. It kinda sucked - which was disappointing! I've used that brand many times and have always been pleased, but this one ... meh. Not so much. I tried to dress it up - caramelized some onions, added garlic and ginger - added coriander, cumin, and garam masala. At this point it did cross my mind that I should have just made the damn stuff from scratch - anyway, it ended up okay in the end. You know why? Cause of the raita.
I've been hoarding one last pomegranate in the fridge for weeks now, and it was starting to look a little ... well, like it had been hoarded in the fridge for weeks. I don't know where I first heard of pomegranate raita, cucumber is the only kind I've really ever had before, but I knew I need some. Thinking that I surely saw it in someone's blog, a quick search didn't really turn up anything that looked familiar. The Girl Next Kitchen has one, so does Enjoy Indian Food (uhm, okay!!!) Milee's Dinners & Such made a raita she saw on a Nigella show, but mentions it was sweet. I didn't really want sweet. Finally I used a recipe from Mamta's Kitchen with some modifications. Cheeky, no?
It elevated the not so great korma to a pretty freakin' good meal. I'd already toasted and ground some cumin for the curry and I really didn't want to mess with doing more, so I left it out. Oh, I added the onions too, and used less pomegranate. I was lucky to have on hand a big container of Abali yogurt to use, it's pretty much my favorite. I believe that the quality of your yogurt makes a big difference in a recipe like this, it just wouldn't be the same with a regular supermarket yogurt. Also, if anyone could please tell me how to pronounce raita I will be forever grateful. You know, until I forget.
Pomegranate Raita
1 cup yogurt
tops of 2 green onions - sliced
1/2 teaspoon each salt and sugar
arils from 1 pom - minus the ones I snacked on
Stir it up and eat it.
Apple Berry Skillet Crumble
Chop up all your apples (I used 4 Pink Lady's) that are beginning to look a little sad and fry them in an oven safe skillet with butter. Yes. Fry the apples in butter. Trust me. Cook them covered over medium heat and they will soften up and start to brown. When you like the way it feels when you poke them with a fork take the pan off the heat and throw in any berries that got lost behind the pickles and stir in a tablespoon or two of sugar (I used white, but brown works too). Stick the lid back on and preheat the oven to "broil". Make up a crumb topping like you'd make for muffins (I processed about 1/4 cup each of flour, butter and white sugar with a pinch of salt)and sprinkle on top. Cook for about 4-5 minutes until the topping is lightly browned. I served it with yogurt that I sweetened and vanillaed but I wished for ice cream.
People, I have been sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Plague, I think. Or dengue fever. Oddly enough it didn't really affect my appetite, just my will to live. And to cook.
1. yogurt
2. berries
3. granola
4. tangelo
So I've been eating a lot of stuff like this. Oh, and tacos. Lots of tacos. You wouldn't believe how many tacos if I told you. So I won't.
1. blueberry bagel
2. vanilla yogurt
3. granola
4. lots and lots of berries
How stinkin' cute is this little lunch bucket? Sugar Dog! Surrounded by donuts! It has text beneath the picture that says "A kind hearted blue dog with a weakness for sweets". I pretty much love it.
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