What's for lunch?

Lunch has always been the hardest meal for me to figure out since I've been home.

In the US, lunch was easy.  I'd buy frozen dinners - 5 for $10 - either the WW or the Smart Ones and take them to work with me. Or I'd go up to the cafeteria and get a salad or something. On weekends, we'd be out and about and stop at Taco Bell (oh how I miss you!) or Chipotle or stop into Johnny Carino's and have some yummy Italian food.  It was easy.  All I really had to plan were dinners.

Now that we are here (and I really am loving it now), it's harder.  Not only do I have to plan dinner, but I also have to plan lunch. No easy takeout for us.  And the prepared dinners are anywhere from 5-7.50 CHF.  Who wants to buy those for lunch every day? (Not to mention, there is no way to get a weeks worth of lunches and ingredients for dinner in your fridge!).  There's always the 'leftovers' - which is ok for me, especially now that I have 2 little kids to deal with at meal time - heck, I'm happy just to have a bite of whatever was last night's dinner without even microwaving it.  Doesn't work for hubby though - unless it was really good (or I'm out the next day), he would rather not have leftovers. Luckily Coop and Migros both have a few prepackaged meals that won't break the bank.  Mainly pasta dishes that you need to cook on the stove.  I'll make a few of those in the coming days.

So what's a person to do?  Well, I've been breaking out the cookbooks, and trying to think of what to make.
My favorites are:
Sandwiches - oh how I miss you Mr. Toaster Oven...
Grilled burritos
Fresh baguette with brie
Salad
Leftovers
Whatever the kids give me time to cook.

There are many varieties of sandwiches/wraps. From the basic lunch meat, cheese and bread, to the more elaborate - fresh cooked chicken on a roll with all the trimmings, Corner Bakery's Chicken Salad (one of hubby's favorites) and grilled mozzarella with tomato and pesto. I will make all of these for you soon.

Grilled burritos are simple - patience is the key (and Cheddar!  -Migros Brunaupark or Jelmoli)

Fresh baguette and brie is the simplest

Salads can range from a bag of mixed greens and dressing to the "I will make you full for the rest of the day kind"

Leftovers - cold or reheated - a time saver

Whatever the kids will let you have - nothing to a bite to "they're sleeping? What do I make??? And running around frantically :-)

Or of course, the pre made meals. Some come in smaller packages and are more suited to lunch and the others are bigger for dinner (or of course you can reverse that).

Recipes and pictures to follow! Today is the 'one bite of leftovers from the fridge' kind of day.

Cashew Chicken with Quinoa

Well, apparently growing older, or maybe living in a new country does affect your tastes... A few years ago, or even last week I would have told you that I hate cashews, and I probably wouldn't have bothered cooking it. I didn't, until today, either.  What changed?  Well I went over to a friend's house and she'd made a salad for lunch - it had cashews in it.  I figured I'd just eat around them but I guess one was hiding under a piece of lettuce or something and so it ended up on my fork.  What do you do then? Just eat it :-)  To my surprise, it tasted just like a peanut (which I do like), so I happily ate the rest of my salad, cashews and all.  This led me to this recipe. My husband requested some more Asian dishes, and my mom has made this before.

What you need:

1 package (450g) of Pouletbrust Geschnetzelts (pre-cut chicken)
500g Kefen (snow peas)
500g Champignon (mushrooms)
1 Zwiebeln Bund (1 bunch spring onions - usually 3 to a bunch)
1 can Bambussprossen (Bamboo Shoots)
250ml Huhnbouillon (chicken bouillon)
1/4 cup sojasauce (soy sauce)
2 tbls corn starch
1/2  tsp zucker (sugar) and salz (salt)
1/4 c sonnenblumenol
1 package cashews

Slice the mushrooms, bamboo shoots,and remove ends from snow peas. If you bought whole pieces of chicken, slice those also.
Using only the green part of the onions, slice them into 1 inch pieces and then slice the ends to make a fan.
Slice the white part of the onion into 1/4 inch pieces

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar and salt.

Using 1 tbls of oil, heat over medium and lightly toast the cashews, about 1 minute, and set aside.
Add remaining oil and then add the chicken, cook about 2-5 minutes, until done. Add snow peas, mushrooms, and broth. Cover and simmer for 2 minutes.  
Add the bamboo shoots and stir in the soy sauce mixture. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly and then simmer for 1 minute uncovered.
Mix in the spring onions and top with the toasted cashews.

I am serving it with Quinoa:
Directions, or from the back of the package from Coop (translated)

Bring 7.5dl of water with 300g of quinoa to a boil. Add 1 tsp of salt. Turn down to low heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water.

I used a measuring cup to scoop the quinoa on to the plate (think mountain) and then spooned the cashew chicken on top of it.

Conclusions: It was good - but next time I think I will add either cabbage or bok choy (Asia Store). The Cashews had a touch of paprika on them and they were very good.

8.5/10