Lunch Recipes & Ideas

Here in Southern California, winter is on its way out and I have never felt more ready to give kale salads a rest. Right now I am craving all that is crunchy, fresh and pale green — like this salad, which mixes a dill-flecked dressing with sweet sugar snap peas, crisp celery, chopped romaine and pretty, pink-edged radish slices that remind me of spring’s first blossoms winking to life. The crunchiness of this salad makes it a great candidate for lunch.

I don’t know what screams winter more than bright, juicy citrus fruit and what shouts spring more than a sweet, tart poppy seed dressing. When tossed together they become the quintessential March salad and a perfect weekday lunch!Poppy seeds in condiments, casseroles, and baked goods are huge in the South, but it wasn’t until I received a bottle of homemade poppy seed dressing as a hostess gift recently that I was hooked on them in salads.

Eggplants were on sale at the market this week, so I picked one up and challenged myself to do something other than fry it. Since fried eggplant is so delicious in dishes like Eggplant Parmesan, I think it tends to be my easy go-to answer. I had something else in mind this time: an afternoon snack with a quick, delicious tahini dip that would carry us through until dinner.

One of the remarkable things about this savory potato and leek galette is that it looks fancy, yet the ingredients are simple and inexpensive. The potatoes are plain old russets, the fat is olive oil instead of butter, and even though it’s gluten-free and vegan, the galette is pleasantly starchy and creamy — a perfect cross between comfort food and an elegant, company-worthy dish.

Up until recently, I just assumed “the art of sandwich making” was better left to the professionals. I don’t mean the basics — like ham and cheese on white or a PB&J — but the more ornate ones, like French dips, Cubans, and spicy Italians. I guess I figured that perhaps a deli had access to top-secret restaurant ingredients, or at the very least better-quality meats and toppings.

A bowlful of brown rice, tempeh, kale, and other veggies has “health food” written all over it, but in our house we hardly think of this recipe as macrobiotic or vegan or anything else but satisfying. Brimming with the perfect balance of flavors and textures, it satiates the senses and even has my barbecue- and burger-loving guy requesting it for dinner.

Yesterday Cambria shared a family recipe for African peanut stew, a celebratory dish made with beef, spices, and rich peanut butter. The classic side dish for this meal — and indeed, nearly any meal throughout much of eastern Africa — is sukuma wiki, braised greens with a very apt meaning to their name! Do you know what sukuma wiki means? A meal in Kenya, with ugali, chapati, a meat stew, and sukuma wiki.

Once upon a time long ago, a friend of mine told me she was doing a crazy thing called the Master Cleanse; for something like thirty days she consumed only a tonic made from water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. This, of course, went down in California. Since then I’ve tried the Master Cleanse once, for three miserable days, and bombed.

A family recipe is important, even if we don’t remember all the parts, because each attempt at its re-creation keeps us connected to the people who helped shape us. It happens each time we do that intimate, life-sustaining cooking and eating thing, especially when we do it from a place of memory.

It took me a long time to warm up to quinoa. I felt like I was the only one not on the super-grain-(that’s-not-really-a-grain-but-who-cares) bandwagon. But my attempts at quinoa had all turned out sticky and faintly bitter, a health food to choke down. So how did I get from there to here, to this lemon-scented golden salad with crunchy bits of cucumber, radish, and almonds? (There are dates, dill, and Parmesan in there too, plus a secret ingredient that really makes it sing.

I’m a Los Angeles native, which means I have never owned a decent umbrella, I describe distances not in miles but in the number of minutes it takes to drive, and I believe sliced avocado belongs on a BLT. My first BLTA was probably at a diner — any Southern California diner worth its salt has at least an add-on avocado option for its BLT — and it was probably fine. It’s hard to go wrong with the combination of crisp lettuce, salty bacon, ripe tomato and avocado.

Last week we received a bunch of cute little eight-ball zucchini from our CSA. We thought of stuffingeggs baked inside pattypan squash We hollowed out each squash, filled the shell with a bit of tomato sauce and tangy goat cheese, topped it with an egg, and popped it in the oven until the yolk was just set and still creamy. We ate it with crusty bread for brunch, but it would also be delicious as a simple summer dinner.

Call me crazy, but when the weather heats up, I don’t feel like eating big hunks of meat. Slow and sluggish might work for winter when everyone is half-hibernating anyway, but in the summer, salads like this are what I want to eat — full of freshness and crunch, with a salty-tart lime dressing and just the right amount of juicy grilled steak.

“I’ll take a salmon BLT, hold the bacon, lettuce, and tomato. And as many extra lemon slices as you will give me.” Yep, that was my go-to lunch order at our favorite little hometown cafe. I was a very particular little kid. At least I ate the salmon, but thank goodness the times have changed!I just gifted my fiancé with a fabulous new natural gas grill for his 30th birthday. (Okay, I secretly bought it for me, too, but don’t tell him that.

The days when you allow the farmers market to dictate what you make for dinner are kind of awesome days. To be quite honest, they’ve become rarer and rarer around our house as we’ve become busier during the weekends. But there’s something quite sweet about ambling around the market and chatting about what you could make with certain ingredients. This weekend, we had time to visit our local farmers market and found some beautiful looking sorrel, leeks, and farm eggs.

Last week I spoke on a panel with my friend Melissa Clark at the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference in New York. The topic was recipe voice. As I was considering what I might say, I asked myself what it is that I hear when I read a recipe and what I want my readers to hear when I write one.

Mardi Gras is on Tuesday. Do you have plans? We’ve got a fun, super easy recipe for an impromptu party—hot dogs! But they’re gussied-up hot dogs, boiled in a spicy broth and served with saucy onions.This recipe comes from chef David Guas, a New Orleans native who owns the Bayou Bakery in Arlington, Virginia. David says these spicy dogs are a classic Mardi Gras food; people serve them along the parade route or at parties.

I’m so blessed to have a job that allows me to work from home. Even better is that I get to cook for a living! But that means some days all that comes out of my kitchen is cupcakes. Or doughnuts. Many days I don’t even sit down to enjoy a real meal—breakfast, lunch, and dinner can consist of Marcona almonds, gummy cokes, and few bites of miscellaneous leftovers.My fiancé is usually gone during the daytime hours, so that doesn’t help matters.

There are very few foods that feed a large crowd with little effort. Tacos may be the simplest option for feeding a lot of people, and today we are bringing you one of our favorite taco stuffings: barbacoa beef, tender and full of rich, complex flavors. Yes, did you know you can make that tasty stuff you buy at Chipotle in your own kitchen — and in your slow cooker, no less? I have a serious thing for barbacoa.

Since we’ve been without the use of our stove for awhile now, Spring is a much welcomed season. We’ve been able to bust out the grill and have used it for almost all of our cooking needs. One of our favorite lunch snacks has become these rolled sandwiches are self contained making them easy to eat at work or on the go and are perfect for a lunch or dinner party. Plus — come on, look at those grill marks! My husband and I are just as busy as most of you.

It’s April, which means invitations to weddings, engagement parties, bridal luncheons, and baby showers are flooding my mailbox. Being the proper southern lady, I’m obligated to put on my pearls, brush my hair, and show up with a smile on my face and gift in my hand. I may secretly be wanting to crawl out of the nearest window, but there is always one thing that keeps me coming back for more. That’s good food, and lots of it.

I don’t usually use the microwave to poach my breakfast egg, but it can come in very handy for a lunch egg. Lentils, brown rice, or a salad can be elevated from a side dish to a main dish with a tender, gooey poached egg on top. Here’s how to make a quick, freshly poached egg in the office microwave. Huge caveat, before you try this: Remember that microwaves come in lots of different configurations.

Have you ever wanted to make a panini or some other form of pressed sandwich, but you didn’t want to shell out the money for an unitasker like a sandwich press? Besides, sandwich presses take up space. In this post, we’ll show you how you can make panini-like sandwiches using kitchen equipment that you probably already have!What You Need• Two cast iron skillets.

How do you fry an egg? Do you do it fast, with a smear of butter? Or all bubbly, with lots of olive oil, like the Spanish do? Here’s one basic way to fry an egg — it’s simple and foolproof. Want more smart tutorials for getting things done around the home? See more How To posts We’re looking for great examples of your own household intelligence too! Submit your own tutorials or ideas here!

For a long time we avoided poached eggs out of a misplaced impression that they were extra-difficult or tricky. But they are not! A perfect poached egg is quick, simple, and foolproof. Here’s how we make poached eggs now. Want more smart tutorials for getting things done around the home? See more How To posts We’re looking for great examples of your own household intelligence too! Submit your own tutorials or ideas here!

Mayonnaise is a main part of many lunches: tuna salad, salad dressings, turkey sandwiches and more. British food writer Elizabeth David called mayonnaise “the beautiful shining golden ointment.” While I’ve made mayonnaise a few times, I’ll admit that for a potato salad or a smear on a sandwich, I’ve relied on Hellmann’s mayonnaise, known as Best Foods in the West.