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
- Cut and saute your veggies.
- 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.
- Transfer the veggies to the pie shell, add cheese and the egg mix.
- Bake for about 30 min, 400F.
Enjoy!
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.
So, now I’m curious. What are you eating at lunch? Do you have any easy recipes to share?
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Looks good!
Not much help to you. My favourite lunch consists of cheese, crackers, some baby carrots, two kinds of fruit – and ONE piece of chocolate!
Thanks for sharing your recipes. Have noted both of them.
.-= Beth´s last blog ..The Secret Place =-.
I worry about what to cook every night…I’m becoming so domesticated that I make weekly menu. Now I make the husband to cook on his days off ’cause he didn’t pay me to be his chef :p
Anyway, I wish it was more convenient to eat out in Denmark but it’s not. Everything’s so expensive that you have to use your money wisely…I’m starting to think what did brought myself to.
And the quiche looks delicious 😀
Hey Zhu, sorry been missing out of you for couple of weeks and hey there, you’re doing great with the quiche and salad ya 🙂
Ok, today I brought salad for lunch (lettuce, carrots, celery, bell pepper, raisins plus almonds) ;D
Other days, I usually prepared the night before fried brown rice with corns, bell peppers, onions or just add anything which is available in the fridge. Or, fried pasta or bee hoon.
If I don’t cook the night before, it is always peanut butter sandwich with an apple 😀
My lunch? Chinese food since it’s abundant here. You know, the usual rice + several dishes, or noodles/vermicellis/flat rice noodles if I were to get bored with rice.
Yours look yummy! Didn’t know you can cook. 😉
.-= kyh´s last blog ..Dying… And resurrected =-.
My lunch?
Cheese/crackers/cucumber slices + fresh squeezed orange juice. Sometimes lemon tea.
I am boring I know.
.-= Agnes´s last blog .."And I was feelin’ nearly as faded as my jeans…" =-.
your quiche sounds awesome! if you worked in my office, you’d have to give me a little taste. un petite quiche. with a nice salad (and avocados!), it sounds like a perfect lunch.
.-= Seraphine´s last blog ..The Great Pumpkin’s Path of Awakening =-.
That looks so yummy!! Now, I’m hungry.. 🙂
.-= Nigel Babu´s last blog ..Pushing 150 kg =-.
Ah. Now I think I would try this recipe. See, the thing is, back in March 14, Priyank challenged me to make a pie. And since I am not a big fan of dessert pies, I decided to make a meat pie. But I failed. So I guess I’ll try one more time with your recipe, and I will definitely let you know once I do it how it goes.
.-= Linguist-in-Waiting´s last blog ..Feel Good =-.
@Guillermo – Thank you!
@Beth – That’s a lot of Canadians’ favorite lunch, from what I can see at work! I don’t eat breakfast, so I need a bit more.
@Bluefish – Eating out is cheap here, as you know, but it’s not very healthy.
@shionge – Putting raisins in the salad is actually a good idea, I might steal it 🙂
@kyh – Lucky you! In HK and China, I’d always get street food. Best food ever… especially the baozi.
I can cook, not as well as most think considering I’m French, but I cook!
@Agnes – I don’t know why, I never got used to crackers. To me, it’s airplane food 😆
@Seraphine – I would have definitely give you a piece. I wouldn’t want to end up in your comic as the bad lady who doesn’t share quiche!
@Nigel Babu – Sorry 😆
Wow! I love ricotta cheese AND avacadoes so these both look delicious! The pics are wonderful!!
PS – Why NOT turn this blog into a cooking blog…once in a while? I could use more of your recipes! 🙂
.-= Scarlet´s last blog ..halloween and discipline =-.
You’re so French with your cold rice salad. I was so surprised when I saw what you people eat for picnics and “barbecues!” The cold rice and pasta salads crack me up!
Lunch is always a struggle for me. Sandwiches are so ingrained in me but I was always so hungry after teaching all morning in France that I eventually started cooking extra the night before so I would have some leftover pasta to bring in with an orange or something to fill myself up. I still find it kind of weird to eat anything but a sandwich for lunch though. Guess that makes me really American, huh?
.-= Soleil´s last blog ..Food, glorious food =-.
I’m more of the sandwich and/or soup/salad person while at work, but now since the past few weeks there has been a change in food with the recent travels.
The quiche you made looks yummy!
.-= Celine´s last blog ..SWF: Leaf Peeping =-.
These all look delcious. You are a person of many talents. Thank you for your encouragement on my posts on our route 66 trip. I think the way I am posting this trip is an homage to your South America trip, although not nearly so ambitious. Thanks.
.-= Tulsa Gentleman´s last blog ..Route 66 Roadtrip: Day 6, Santa Rosa, NM to Santa Fe, NM =-.
Hmm looks yummy… Half the time I lunch in offce cafe and rest of the times i carry it. I don’t prepare food specially for lunch..if some leftovers available then I carry.
Looks yummy.. I like the salad very much..will try it 🙂
.-= CM-Chap´s last blog ..Fabulous Federer… =-.
Mmmm now those are some tempting lunches! I bet your co-workers are envious!! Good job! I take my lunch too, but sadly most days it is a sandwich and salad…will have to get more creative this weekend!
.-= DianeCA´s last blog ..Finally free on Friday =-.
lol. i never think you’d be
‘the bad lady who wouldn’t share quiche.’
i’d share my chocolate with you…
.-= Seraphine´s last blog ..Sometimes there isn’t a choice =-.
As you’ve seen, I seem to be blogging more about food than anything else at the moment but food is such an important part of our lives that I think it’s great to see what other people are eating. Your quiche looks lovely by the way. Very tasty.
I have the same problem as you about leftovers. Usually the food is son nice that I go back for seconds and there’s nothing left for the next day!
.-= Adem´s last blog ..Carving Pumpkins for Halloween =-.
I think food posts is good once in a while – especially as yammy as this one. My mouth is watering and how great to share the recipe too!
I have to ask Diane if we can make some together 🙂
.-= RennyBA’s Terella´s last blog ..Mini Cruise on Oslo Fjord in Norway =-.
@Scarlet – You definitely have to try the recipe then!
@Soleil – I don’t mind sandwiches but I like them with “real” bread, not just sliced bread with I find isn’t really filling.
I had never realized cold rice salad was a French thing! Come to think of it, most salads I see here are either pasta, potatoes etc.
I also need to actually eat at noon, since I don’t have breakfast.
@Celine – I used to have soups at lunch too, from a place nearby work who would make the best soups ever. This was great during the winter!
@Tulsa Gentleman – What matter in a trip isn’t the destination, it’s the trip in itself 😉
@CM-Chap – I wish we had a cafetaria but this is very rare in Canada. Even kids at school bring their lunch, unlike in France where there is always a restaurant.
@DianeCA – My co-workers don’t even see me eating most of time, work is busy and I usually eat in front of the computer when I have a minute! 😆
@Seraphine – I’ll do anything for chocolate. Here is a piece of quiche… I mean, take the whole quiche if you like!
@Adem – I’m also always curious to see what people are eating. But I find a huge gap between those who are really into cooking and have all kind of complicated ingredients and fancy recipes, and the rest of us who just try to eat homemade stuff that don’t take two hours to prepare!
@RennyBA’s Terella – Let me know if you try the recipe!
I have this same problem. I bring lunch to work almost every day but I run out of ideas and then I get sick of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Your quiche looked beautiful!
.-= Tanya´s last blog ..Halloween in Brussels =-.
yum. if you want some of the quiche too, you better not offer
the whole thing! one time, i was hiking in the mountains,
and i met this guy going down the mountain as i was going up.
i offered him some cookies, and he ate them all! i mean–
ALL of them! i had to laugh- i guess he was really hungry.
.-= Seraphine´s last blog ..The Fudder Pucket Apology =-.
I love a quiche…the problem is there aren’t many bakers in India who can turn a good one out!
.-= Shantanu´s last blog ..Farallon And Ryowa Ramen =-.
I’ve only had quiche once before (at a restaurant), and I have to say that your homemade quiche looks much much better. I think I may have to try making this! 😀
.-= Lizz´s last blog ..Holy Crap, An Ebay For Free Stuff?? =-.
Looks all so good! I stick to a simple salad usually or left overs from the day before. Something easy is key for me, usually with Rice. I’m a bit of a snacker so I need lots to eat all day long.
.-= expatraveler´s last blog ..Snow Birds in Action =-.
@Tanya – And I’m still too French for PB&J!
@Seraphine – Really, true story? This is hilarious! I wouldn’t have known how to react, better laugh at it. I guess some hiker get really hungry! 😆
@Shantanu – So you will have to make your own! 😉
@Lizz – Quiche can be totally missed. I am quite picky, I like them homemade, I was disappointed many times in restaurants.
@expatraveler – And what do you snack on? I know, I’m curious!