The Working Lunch #52

Time for tacos

Hello,

How are you? Are you making time for lunch today?

It can be tempting not to prioritise lunch, can’t it? Like it’s ok to spend 30 minutes making dinner, but lunch? That needs to be quick, right?

Does it though? Who made that rule?

Why can’t we take our sweet time to make something to eat at any time of the day?

If you feel you don’t have time, sometimes by stopping and doing it, you actually create time and space for that task. Arrive at it. Commit to it. The task itself could even become a treat. Or a rest. Or a change. Or a distraction. Or procrastination. Or a moment to yourself. Whatever you need it to be. I bet you’ll still have time for everything else.

Preparing food gives you just enough activity and focus to keep you present in the moment, with a reward at the end of a delicious plate of food. A proper break. You’ll be back to work mentally refreshed and physically nourished before you know it.

I had a lovely time taking my sweet time with some tacos last week.

Just a sandwich…

Pepper & black bean tacos

Fiery flavours to fill you up

Vibrant flavours, chilli heat, earthy warmth, creamy avocado and crispy tacos — this little lunch ticks all the boxes.

Ingredients:

• Mini tortillas/or soft tacos

• 1/3 red (bell) pepper sliced

• 1/3 green (bell) pepper sliced

• 1/3 white onion sliced

• 1 clove garlic

• 1/3 tin black beans, drained

• Generous pinch each of chilli flakes and ground cumin

• 1/2 tsp of paprika (smoked paprika if you have it — I’m staring at my cupboard wondering why haven’t I got any?)

• Sour cream

• Avocado

• Lime juice

• Fresh coriander

• Jalapeños

• Grated cheese

To make:

Dry fry the tortillas to revive them. If they catch a little, that’s all good.

Leave those to one side, perhaps under a clean tea towel, while cooking the filling.

Add the onions, peppers and garlic to the frying pan. Cook lightly, then add the chilli, cumin and paprika. I’ve dry fried as I’m using a skillet, but you might want to start with a little oil so the spices don’t catch.

Add in the beans and stir until heated thoroughly.

Remove from the heat and add a squirt of lime juice.

Then get the other components ready — grated cheese, avocado, sour cream, coriander, jalapeños — and you’re ready to assemble the tacos.

I know this uses a third of a pepper, a third of an onion… but it’s based on one serving (yes, all three tacos were for me). Later that night, a stir fry rice took care of the rest of the peppers and onion that I’d already chopped at lunchtime!

Simple swaps:

• More sauce? Use oil when you start cooking and add a little water to the beans. This will cook it down into a juicier filling. Or use tinned tacos beans that have their own sauce.

• Want it sweeter and stickier? Add some honey, or maple syrup, or use some BBQ sauce at the end of cooking.

Lunch chat

Here’s the rundown of my other lunches last week:

• Leftover chilli bulked out with a few extra black beans (see above)

• Jacket potato with beans & cheese — pre-baked in the oven for a quick lunchtime reheat

• Croque Madame — I’d been researching something about Paris in the early 1900s, so it felt like the right thing to do

• Out for lunch on Friday — absolutely banging halloumi salad with marinated courgettes and chickpeas which I am going to try and recreate at home

What about you? Have you found any new nice lunch spots?

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If you’re not feeling the lunchtime love with this week’s idea, don’t forget that you can tuck into the archives at any time.

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