Wizard of Oz bento

Well, I have probably gone a little nuts. But it is cool.

Here's Toto on the yellow brick road of cheese to the emerald jelly city, past the red tomato poppy fields....



And here's the witches hat, the scarecrows dip brain, the cowardly lion hiding in crackers, and the tinmans heart of onigiri.





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Chicken and Silver Beet Stir-fry Rice

With that, "what's for lunch?" Question, this is a super simple solution, especially with cooked rice hanging about. I always refrigerate leftover rice for just such an occasion.



Last night the husband made a chicken curry. With 2 chickens. Sometimes getting him to cut down on meat seems nothing less than futile. However, he set aside about 3/4 cup of chicken meat, that he diced for lunch today.

Literally this whole meal took less than 10 minutes, and that included a trip to the garden, and taking photos.

Ingredients
3/4 cup chicken
1 cup cooked rice
3 small silver beet (chard) leaves
5 small chillies (he likes spicy food)
1/2 cm of ginger
2 spring onions
1/4 small red onion
Coriander leaves
Soy sauce
Olive oil
Sweet chilli sauce

1. Head the oil and soy in a wok. When hot, throw in the chicken to cook.


2. Dice the onion and silver beet (chard) stalks and add to the wok when the chicken is cooked.



3. Dice the chillies and ginger, toss in the wok, and keep it stirring.



4. Add the rice

5. When the rice is coated in all the juices, throw in finely chopped silver beet (chard) leaves and coriander leaves.

6. Slice the spring onions and add to the wok.

7. Add salt, pepper and a little chilli sauce.

8. Serve and eat



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Iskender for tea

I ordered the Easy-Lunchbox last year, and the set arrived while I was away.  I thought it was time that I gave them a whirl.

Last night I put some leftover rice in the large compartment.  With tabbouleh in the fridge, a Turkish iskender was totally on the menu.

While the falaffels were dry-frying, I harvested lettuce and cucumber, grated a carrot, and popped it all in the lunchboox with a little beetroot.  In the small containers, hummus and a little left-over natural yogurt.

When the falafels were done, dinner was ready.  And did I mention, I have tabbouleh and cooked falafels left-over for tomorrow.  I did say I was the master of the letover... :D

I was impressed with the depth of the compartments in the easy lunchbox, it held enough for my dinner, which was nice, as I still treat this as the largest meal of the day.  A little difficult to eat from cross-legged, but I could infact eat at a table.... (Being a Drama teacher often means I spend a lot of time sitting on the floor with my food.....)

Red Lentil Dahl (Curry)

Well, there was a change of plan for dinner tonight.  Normally Mondays mean leftovers for him, and I have a muffin-tin.... but tonight, just 30 minutes before he was due home, I discovered that he did not have a lot of his lamb curry left in the fridge.  Never fear, for the easiest curry in the world came in to save the day.

On a quick side note, it may be worth mentioning that he is an Indian meat-lover, and I am a Kiwi vegetarian.... which often makes mealtimes interesting.

If I am putting on a full Indian meal, with a number of curries, this is always one on the menu.  Though it is not the prettiest dahl in the world, it is tasty, quick and cheap.

Usually I make it hotter, but tonight I worked it to be more lunch-friendly.  Curry is always SOOOOO much better the next day.

Here is the recipe:

1 Tb olive oil
1 medium to large onion (depending on how much your like onion....)
2 cloves garlic (or more if you prefer... or less for that matter)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp chilli-powder
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp black mustard seeds (these can be left out, but I like the flavour they give)
1 cup red lentils (brown and black work well too, but take longer to cook, and create a much darker curry)
2 cups water
2 vegetable stock cubes
1/2 tsp salt
Handful of chopped coriander (cilantro)

The cooking process is simple.

In a fairly large saucepan, heat the oil.  Dice your onion while this is heating, and throw it in the pot.
Crush and chop your garlic, throw that in as well.  Stir.  Make sure your saucepan is over a REALLY low heat, or things will burn to the bottom....
Add the 2 bay leaves, stir.
Measure and throw in the spices in order as above, stirring between each one.
When the onion is clear (or yellowy-clear from the turmeric), add 1 cup of water.
Add a cup of red lentils.  They do not need to be rinsed first, but other sorts will need the rinsing.
Add the second cup of water.  Crush the stock cubes into the pot.  You can use liquid stock (2 cups) instead, but I tend to have stock cubes on hand.
Add the salt.
Keep stirring occasionally, making sure the lentils don't stick to the bottom.
The whole thing should be cooked in 20 minutes.

When the lentils are soft, remove the bay leaves, and add the chopped coriander.

Serve with rice.

As a main, this will serve 4.  I tend to use half for dinner for 2, putting the rest in the fridge for lunch on the next day.  He likes to take it to work with rice.  I like to have mine as a toasted sandwich filling....

When making a full Indian meal, I tend to use this along with a lamb curry, and a chicken curry, with sides of Bombay potatoes, a really lovely cucumber dish, and a selection of breads (naan and roti).