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What’s For Lunch?

Fear not, I’m not turning this blog into a cooking blog. I’m not that domestic. But lately, I realized that every evening, I was facing the same dilemma every evening—what should I take to work for lunch? Presumably, I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to buy lunch but has no clue what to put in the brown bag, so maybe you’ll enjoy the quick solution I found.

When I was teaching, bringing my own lunch wasn’t a great option. I had to go from one government building to another and I didn’t have access to a fridge nor a microwave. I already had to lug around books and other teacher essentials and I had nowhere to go for lunch—once the morning class was over, I couldn’t exactly stick around, my “visitor” pass and I had to leave the premises. Most of the time, I was buying a sandwich/soup combo in one of Ottawa’s many eateries around Bank Street.

But with my new job came an office, a proper kitchen, a fridge, a microwave and even a toaster. I can now bring my lunch and save money. Woo-hoo!

Not so fast. What to take for lunch? Leftovers are always an option, but even though we cook most evenings, we don’t always have some. In France, I’d just make the traditional ham-and-cheese baguette sandwich, but cheese is expensive here and I hate sliced bread.

So, I started to dedicate my Sunday evenings to meal prep. First easy portable option? A quiche, France’s beloved savoury pie. The supermarket versions are expensive but luckily, making a quiche is pretty easy and it’s a flexible recipe.

Here the recipe I use:
— One pie shell
— 4 eggs
— Ricotta cheese
— Cheese (grated cheese, feta, anything you like)
— Vegetables: zucchini, onions, red bell pepper, mushrooms

  1. Cut and saute your veggies.
  2. Mix the 4 eggs and about 200 g of ricotta cheese in a bowl. Make sure it’s not lumpy and add salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Transfer the veggies to the pie shell, add cheese and the egg mix.
  4. Bake for about 30 min, 400F.

Enjoy!

Ready to Bake!
Ready to Bake!
In the Oven
In the Oven
Looks Ready...
Looks Ready…
Yummy!
Yummy!

I also make a big bowl of salad (without lettuce, the French way!). I just mix:

— Basmati rice (or any non-sticky type of rice)
— Corn
— Tuna
— Tomatoes
— Avocados
— Red Bell Peppers
— A bit of tofu

Balsamic Vinaigrette is a great dressing.

Salad
Salad
A Big Bowl of It!
A Big Bowl of It!

So, now I’m curious. What are you eating at lunch? Do you have any easy recipes to share?

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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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