Lately I’ve been taking a page from La Bella Cucina, which suggests bringing real plates and silverware to work and dressing your lunch with olive oil and seasonings that you keep at your desk. It does make all the difference in the world. Here’s what I’ve been eating this week:
Clockwise from the top left: half a golden apple, bread from a New Jersey bakery, light tuna salad, baby spinach, bean salad.
The tuna salad and beans can be made in big batches at the beginning of the week and are easy to throw together. For the tuna salad, I mixed a big can of tuna with plain yogurt, lemon juice, a little bit of mayo, and some chopped onions. For the beans, I mixed a can of canellis and a can of black beans with chopped onions and lemon juice. Of course there are hundreds of variations you could use, but essentially all you’re doing is opening cans and mixing things. I think it’s easier than making a sandwich every day.
The trick to making this appetizing is to keep everything separated until the last minute. I put the tuna and beans in separate little Gladware containers, which fit snugly into one of those black rectangular containers you get with Chinese takeout. There’s just enough room left for a handful of spinach leaves and a hunk of bread. The apple half is the only thing that doesn’t fit; I wrapped it in foil and carried it separately. The whole ensemble is environmentally friendly (very little waste) and fits in a purse.
Come lunchtime, all I have to do is slice the apple, arrange everything on a plate, drizzle the spinach with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
