The Working Lunch #21
Minimal-waste cauliflower soup; eggs benny; all the salad sesame bagel; and good grain & halloumi bowls. It’s your weekly reminder to show your lunch break some love.
Morning! It’s Monday again. They come around so quickly.
How is your week shaping up so far?
It’s looking like a short one from where I’m sitting. How about you? Are you taking the short week or is it business as usual?
Either way, no matter how much you’re trying to fit in, there’s never an excuse to skip lunch.
Take a proper break. You deserve it.
Here are a few ideas to fill your belly.
Make ahead…
Minimal-waste cauliflower soup
It’s nearly June and I’m still making soup. A nice warming bowl of very minimal waste cauliflower soup, delicately spiced with ginger and turmeric. I’ve used this Melissa Hemsley recipe as a guide, making a few changes based on what I had in. It makes use of the whole cauliflower, even the leaves that quite often end up in the bin.
I omitted the white beans from the recipe and I’ve also used dried ginger, rather than fresh. As for the cauliflower leaves, I didn’t want too much garnish, so I’ve cooked the ridges of the leaves into the soup, leaving only the leafy bits to fry off to scatter over the top. Crispy chilli oil to serve, as I seem to put that on everything at the moment 😋.
This was perfect for the chilly days we had last week.
On toast…
Eggs Benedict
Usually synonymous with a slow Sunday brunch, eggs Benedict isn’t something I’d usually make for a work-from-home lunch, but my son was off work and it was his idea.
He did the sauce, I poached the eggs. A fair division of labour, though I think I got left with the clearing up.
Two runny poached eggs on rye sourdough (yeah, you’re right, English muffins would’ve been better), smothered in an incredibly buttery Hollandaise sauce. In fact, the sauce split because he put too much butter in it, but it was still delicious.
Simple swaps: Add a few slices of ham and serve on a toasted English muffin for a more traditional version.
Just a sandwich…
All the salad bagel
If you’re going to make a sandwich, you might as well make it a good one.
One sesame seed bagel packed full of all the salad goodness I could possibly fit in from my fridge and garden.
Crunchy, creamy, sweet and peppery, I’ve packed this with a few different leaves—land cress, baby chard, pea shoots and basil—sliced avocado, cucumber, spring onion, yellow pepper, plum tomatoes, and a little drizzle of balsamic glaze.
Rustle up…
Halloumi, grain & veg bowl
The Good Grains pouches are back once again. And why not? They are so easy, and quick, and the flavours are already in there. With a little addition of some freshly cooked ingredients, they are literally a wonderful bowlful of goodness that will keep you full up while you power through the afternoon at work.
It takes 1-2 minutes to heat up the pouch of grains. This one is a mix of wholegrain rice, black rice, red pepper and paprika.
Dice up some courgette, pepper and halloumi. Fry until golden.
Add veg and halloumi to the bowl of grains. Prêt!
Let me know what you’re having for lunch. Find me on Twitter or tag me on Instagram (@the.working.lunch).
Why only four meals?
I know most people work 5 days a week, I do too. It’s nice to wing it one day a week—raid the freezer, finish up those leftovers, or head to a local market to see what takes your fancy…
See you next week, lunch buddies.