Kedgeree: the perfect packed lunch?
Photograph: Linda Nylind
There is little worse in this world than smugness. And so I suppress the not unenjoyable kernel that rises within me most weekday lunchtimes. When I peel the lid off my Tupperware, colleagues hoover up the aroma like Bisto kids, licking their chops and asking, what's in the box today. "Get back down there, horrid smugness," I have to keep telling myself, "shoo!"
I started doing packed lunches about a year ago, lured by the commonsense health and economic benefits - a delicious meal which costs at least half what you'd pay for some unsatisfying sarnie or canteen stodge with short-lived comfort value.
There is also something rather lovely about having a little reminder of home when holed up in an office with dodgy aircon and the static thrum of too many computers. Some co-workers use mouse-mats with pictures of their pets printed on them while others stand framed photographs of loved-ones on their desks. I scoff some grub from my kitchen.
I didn't have a vast recipe range when I first started. I'd make a giant batch of ratatouille (with kidney beans for protein) on a Sunday and cook brown rice to go with it daily, and every morning I'd grate some Parmesan and toss a few fresh basil leaves into a mini-tupperware to add just before serving (adding the accoutrements made me feel a bit like Molly Ringwald's character in the film Breakfast Club when she gets her sushi lunch out during school detention - I maybe should have kept this thought to myself).
Enthused by my dedication, my best friend gave me her magic adzuki bean stew recipe from her copy of Fresh - a Toronto vegetarian cafe cookbook. It tastes so meaty and hearty for just beans (I'm not a vegetarian, but meat in Tupperware doesn't appeal so much). The unlikely combination of tamari, oregano, cinnamon, onion, lots of fresh chopped root ginger, veg stock and tomato paste just works. And it's amazing cold with sliced avocado. Once I started bringing this stew into the office it spread like wildfire.
These days many colleagues seem to be bringing their own (I do not claim to have started the trend - that would be smug) so these days we all have a bit of a lunch-off; tupperwares at dawn.
So here's one of my favourite packed luncheons. But I'd like suggestions from ya'll please. I'll be back with another tupperware treat next week - and hopefully trying out a few of yours.
Adzuki bean from Fresh in Toronto
4 tbsp olive oil
2 cooking onions, diced
2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 cups cooked or canned adzuki beans
2tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup tamari
2 cups roasted vegetable stock
1 - heat oil in a pot over a medium heat
2 - add onions and ginger; cook 5 minutes until softened
3 - add oregano, cayenne and cinnamon. stir and cook for 1 minute
4 - add beans, tomato paste, tamari and vegetable stock
5 - bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. serve.
This makes enough for four. They suggest serving with brown rice, with a dash of tahini and a few slices of cucumber or avocado, or in a soft tortilla wrap.
