let's cook: 4 easy lunches

...and a little spin on the tenderbro ccc

cream cheese +fish wife tinned tuna + capers + calabrian chili + dill // ricotta + zhoug+ persian cucumber + cherry tomatoes + salt + pepper + olive oil on crispbread!

life is a blur. what am i doing? why is the week going so fast yet so slowly?! when i’m home, i’ve been surviving off things that are easy and quick to make during the day. i find that sometimes, although lunch is my favorite meal of the day, i don’t always want something time consuming (like pasta) for a midday meal especially when i have dinner plans later on. so, i’ve been gravitating toward easy bites that are made off the cuff with pantry essentials* and things i always have in my refrigerator at all times*.

i agree with the people who say trader joe’s isn’t really a grocery store but rather a friendly store to pick up interesting snacks, emergency champagne, 1 lb bars of chocolate, random pantry staples at a good price and the occasional packaged sauce (zhoug and garlic spread forever) and their frozen vegetable fried rice and orange chicken for a good and easy depression meal. i don’t want to sound elitist when i say that i really don’t love trader joe’s produce although in a pinch, it’s just fine. but all of that aside, one of my new favorite trader joe’s item is their seeds & grains crispbread norwegian crackers. i randomly discovered how good they are with everything and in doing so, i have learned that they are the absolute perfect thing to have on hand to make a very good lunch. other dishes that make for a really good and quick lunch? adultified mac and cheese, a bowl of good things like tomatoes/rotisserie chicken/cucumbers/feta and manila clams in a white wine sauce to dip baguette in.

let’s ~get into it~.

*things that are in my refrigerator at all times recently: dill, chives, mint, gotham greens california crunch, persian cucumbers, 1/2 dozen eggs, whole grain mustard, dry white wine, salted butter, calabrian chili, crunchy dill pickles, capers, labne, plain whole milk yogurt, zhoug, plain hummus, ricotta, block of parmesan, and one sharp cheese like goat or feta.

*my personal savory pantry essentials:

tinned tuna in water or olive oil, tinned sardines in tomato sauce or olive oil or olive oil and lemon, anchovies, soy sauce, olive oil, grapeseed oil, an assortment of vinegars, canned butter beans/garbanzo beans/black beans, dried beans, dried pasta, whole garlic, shallots, chicken broth.

• easy lunch #1: seed and grain crispbread with a variety of toppings. i think very little would taste ‘bad’ on a crispbread but i think going simple is best for something like this.

  • ricotta with a drizzle of brightland’s lucid olive oil, flaky salt, pepper, sliced sugar snap peas, persian cucumber, mint leaves, zhoug, squeeze of lemon juice. this is such a good combination that is refreshing and bright.

  • cream cheese, tinned tuna, capers, fresh dill, calabrian chili, drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper. i really love this one because it’s like eating a bagel but not!! i also like this when i need more protein and need something that’s delicious and quick.

  • ricotta, cherry tomatoes, persian cucumbers, zhoug, salt, pepper.

  • soft scrambled egg, ricotta, a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper.

  • thin spread of salted butter, some gruyere, a slice of french ham or prosciutto

• easy lunch #2: manila clams with white wine, shallots, garlic + baguette! i use about 1.5 lbs of manila clams for 2 people and i always soak the clams in a bowl of cold water beforehand for at least 30 minutes.

  • sauté 4 finely chopped cloves of garlic with 1 diced shallot in 5 tbs of salted butter + 1 glug of olive oil on medium heat until softened and fragrant.

  • add about 1 cup (or a little more, i eyeball this) of dry white wine and bring it up to a boil to cook off some of the alcohol. once it’s come to a boil, strain the clams, throw them in and let them steam with the lid on the pot for about 6 or 7 minutes or when the clams have opened up.

  • season with flaky salt, a heavy squeeze of meyer lemon juice, lemon zest, freshly diced parsley and dip the baguette in the broth.

  • if you wanted to skip baguette, i think some calmarata pasta would be just as delicious.

• easy lunch #3: adult ‘mac and cheese’. this isn’t really a true mac and cheese but it has cheese in it and a fun noodle shape so i think it passes.

  • i had ricotta in my fridge and half a bag of anellini and i was starving so i decided to mix a couple big dollops of ricotta with the pasta, throw in some tinned tuna, a heavy squeeze of lemon juice, lemon zest, a tablespoon of zhoug and added fresh dill with flaky salt and cracked black pepper. it looked a little weird but i promise, it was delicious. sometimes it’s hard for me to get enough protein in during the day and this felt like an easy way to get some protein in.

  • another favorite way to adultify mac and cheese? garlic and fine herbs boursin + peas + broccoli + spinach + pancetta + lemon zest + pasta noodles. this is my favorite.

• easy lunch #4: canned butter beans with persian cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, rotisserie chicken, olive oil, lemon juice, feta, hummus, thinly sliced shallot, avocado and store bought flatbread. i don’t want to say that a rotisserie chicken is one of my refrigerator staples, but it kind of is. i buy a rotisserie chicken at least 1x a week! it’s so nice to have for meals like this.

  • it’s pretty straightforward but i strain 2 cans of butter beans, throw them in a bowl with sliced cherry tomatoes, shallot, sliced persian cucumbers, chunks of rotisserie chicken and dress it with olive oil, meyer lemon juice, salt, pepper and feta. i also add any herbs i have in my fridge which by this time was only mint and dill. i sliced half an avocado and added a big spoonful of store bought hummus and some more zhoug (take a shot every time i say ‘zhoug’, omg….). i love messy meals in a bowl!! they’re one of my favorite kinds of meals.

  • i feel like a summer produce version of this that i would gladly make is a panzanella salad with a lot of basil! baby mozzarella! or sliced white nectarines with sungolds, early girl tomatoes, butter beans, and some basil.

• i like this meal a lot because it makes quite a bit and is really good as leftovers the next day. and since i ran out of flatbread, i did eat this with crispbread. everything is connected :’)

  

  okay, i need to know: do you consider trader joe’s a full grocery store? what produce do you like buying there? what am i missing out on??

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  a spin on the tenderbro ccc….

ethan, my brother, is the inventor of the popular tenderbro ccc after meticulously recipe testing a variety of ccc recipes to come up with his own recipe for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. this recipe has garnered quite a few fans and for good reason. i shouldn’t have messed with his recipe but i did and it’s actually pretty good (he agrees). so here is my twist on his recipe if you’re interested:

• 2 cups of ap flour

• 1 cup of granulated sugar

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 227 g of salted butter (deeply browned, on the verge of being burnt)

• 1 tbs vanilla paste or extract

• 2 whole eggs

• 2 big tbs fine and raw hazelnut spread (or use nutella)

• trader joe’s 1 lb bittersweet chocolate with almonds bar (i am not a nuts in my cookie kind of girl but i accidentally bought the chocolate almond bar and i was so annoyed but tell me why it actually made the cookie taste so good? sometimes a mistake is a blessing i guess)

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  • in a large bowl, combine all your dry ingredients.

  • chop the chocolate into big chunks! i like my chunks to be bigger and uneven.

  • in a small saucepan, deeply brown the butter until it is extremely fragrant and on the verge of being OVERLY browned.

  • pour the browned butter into another bowl and let it cool for a few minutes before adding two whole eggs. whisk vigorously until well combined. add the sugar and whisk again until mixture becomes thickened and smooth. add the vanilla paste/extract and the 2 big tbs of hazelnut spread (or any spread).

  • combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and using a rubber spatula, mix until there are no flour spots. add as much chopped chocolate as you want. i definitely did not measure this but i think i did about two big handfuls. mix again.

  • put the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. let rest/chill.

  • on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, spoon out 1.5 tbs of cookie dough and roll into a ball. make sure to give enough space between each cookie ball to give them enough room to grow :)

  • top each cookie dough with another chunk of chocolate or a big drizzle of hazelnut chocolate spread.

  • bake for 12 minutes or until the edges have browned.

  • sprinkle with flaky salt and enjoy.

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thanks for being here with me.

i’m so happy you are