The Lady who Lunches

Last week, surrounded by great self-made fanfare, I returned to my blog. Now I am faced with a few harsh realities:

1. days are getting shorter leaving less daylight hours to take photographs of food
2. taking pictures of your food at the work cafeteria makes you look like a weirdo
3. the "Program" the Workaholic insists on following is restrictive (it's a program, not a diet)
4. I spend a lot of time cooking as a result of aforementioned Program

Last week had a few fun lunches that were relatively easy:

• the homemade summer rolls
• a chickpea and arugula salad
• a quinoa and black bean salad
• black bean salad with fresh corn, avocado and tomatoes

The chickpea and arugula salad has been a mainstay of the program. Easy to prepare and it keeps overnight.
Contents:
chickpeas (from a can, then drained)
arugula
chopped tomatoes
chopped grilled eggplant & zucchini
(tip: grill a bunch of things & add to sandwiches, salads or dinner through the week)
chopped red onion
red wine vinegar
olive oil




Part of the pleasure of bringing my own lunch when we have a fully catered canteen is the reaction of my coworkers. When I brought my Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, my lunch date asked me if he could be in the picture. Behold my salad & my coworker:
Contents:
Cooked quinoa
Black beans (dried & then cooked)
parsley
tomatoes
red onions
olive oil
apple cider vinegar

The next day, I had the pleasure of a surprise visit from an old friend. I was so engrossed with catching up, I got back to my desk only to realize, I had no photos. I quickly called the Workaholic and he has happy to oblige. I quickly discovered that the Workaholic is in a much darker environment than I am.

Contents:
Black beans (the dried kind are the best I can find in Germany)

grilled corn, shucked

chopped tomaotes

chopped avocado

lime juice

cilantro

chili

Fruit Salad:

Pear

Blueberries

1/2 Kiwi

Cranberry juice to keep it from looking gross

That's it. A week of lunches. Let's see if I can find anything new this week. While still adhering to The Program, of course.

Low-Fat, Choco-Coco-Fruity Muffins

I had this stomach virus-thing recently. Neither I nor you, dear reader, want me to go into detail. All I will state is that my diet was limited. As I was unable to eat sweets and eat fruit, all I wanted was sweets and fruits.

It's Easter today. I want chocolate & cake & everything that's bad for me. This morning, I made something that satisfied the elements of my desires, yet still adhered to the elements of my diet: Choco-coco-fruity muffins.

Choco-Coco-Fruity Muffins
2 Tbsp ground flax seed
3 Tbps shredded coconut
3 Tbps butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup milk
1 cup fresh fruit (blueberries & chopped stawberries)

Mix flax seed, coconut, butter & sugar. Blend together. Beat in egg. Mix flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, mix together cocoa powder, hot water and milk. Add flour and cocoa mixture, slowly & one by one to the butter-egg mix. Add fresh fruit. Divide among 10 muffin forms. Bake at 180° for 12-15 minutes.

The flax and coconut add extra fiber, and the coconut adds extra fat so the butter can be reduced. The sugar is reduced by adding fresh fruit and yet the muffins are still moist because they have the very wet cocoa mixture in them. If they're not sweet enough, cover them in frosting. I have a jar of frosting in my office and I wish I had brought it home this weekend. But even without the frosting, the muffins are a nice, light snack. Enjoy!

Coffee Date with Blueberries & Peaches

In a few hours, an old friend from university will be coming over for coffee. In Germany, Sunday coffee is a sort of institution. It's not just coffee, it's also cake & all other goodies that fill you up with sugars & flours & make you not want dinner. Well, forget that - it's an old friend, not someone I have to impress. It's about seeing her again, not about the food. Well - not as much about the food.

Yesterday, I went out to the farm & in my "everything is fresh & I need it all!" frenzy, I got some vineyard peaches, as well as some blueberries. Neither are local, but both are fun. The vineyard peaches are flat & perfect for grilling, but I needed something to go with the blueberries for the pie. Cut them up & away I go. This is wine country- there have got to be more flat peaches out there.

Blueberry Peach Pie Crumble
1/2 roll puff pastry, or 1 pie shell
1/2 c flour
3 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of grated lemon zest
2 Tbsp butter
pinch of salt
250 g blueberries
3 flat peaches, or 2 round ones, sliced
3 Tbsp light brown sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
zest of 1/2 lemon, grated
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Roll pastry into pie form.
Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, butter & salt to make a sandy mixture. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Put fruit mix in pie shell & cover with crumble mixture. Bake at 180° for 30 minutes.

I've been looking forward to making a pie for months now, ever since I got my new pie form when I was at home a few months ago. An amazingly wonderful person gave it to me as a gift & if I can't share the pie with her, then I can at least share it with an old friend.