The Cowgirl Chef: A lunch makeover using dinner leftovers
I have a crazy eating routine by most people’s standards.
Breakfast is a pre-dawn shot of coffee, then I’m out the door and on my way to yoga across town. After that, I have a big smoothie plus some almond butter on rice cakes.
Stay with me. After that, the calorie load comes.
I’m usually testing and nibbling on recipes all afternoon, and sometimes I just gobble up whatever I’m shooting and call it lunch. Or dinner, depending on the time frame. It’s often all-day eating, which is why I normally don’t carve out a chunk of time to eat lunch, too — but I do take time to sit down for dinner.
So why am I writing a column today about lunch? Because I completely get the “little-time-to-eat-plus-what-am-I-gonna-eat-today?” conundrum. The stress of it all.
Often I see people standing at refrigerated shelves, grabbing sandwiches or unappealing salads — made who knows when — with vinaigrette in small plastic cups embedded in the leaves, and those are the good options.
I say let’s do away with the sad, store-bought lunch and go for something that’s not just more interesting, but healthier, too.
Like you, I like making and eating things that are fresh and quick to put together, but fast doesn’t have to mean uninspired. A salad doesn’t have to be so predictable. Or a sandwich — a halved avocado can be its vessel, instead of bread.
There are no rules here. We are not lining up with our lunch money at the school cafeteria. It’s your lunch. Do it your way.
Like any meal, lunch should be liberating. It should not only be something that tastes great and nourishes you so you can get through the second half of your day, it ought to be something a little bit special, a reward for a half-day well done.
It shouldn’t take a ton of time to put together, either. All of these recipes can be made the night before. Some use leftovers, which saves even more time.
They’re all designed to inspire you to take what you’re already making, say, for dinner, and make it into your lunch the next day. Sure, you can make a meatloaf sandwich with that Wednesday-night meatloaf, but how about meatloaf quesadillas instead, or meatloaf crumbled and stuffed into pitas with slices of cucumber and yogurt sauce? Or used as a topping for a baked sweet potato?
Or make up something new. Even if you’ve only got half an hour to enjoy it, make your lunch count. Love your lunch and it’ll love you back.
Ellise Pierce is the Cowgirl Chef and author of “Cowgirl Chef: Texas Cooking With a French Accent” (Running Press, $25); www.cowgirlchef.com, @cowgirlchef.
Five tips for stretching dinner to lunch
1. When you’re steaming broccoli or roasting any vegetable — potatoes, carrots, parsnips —always make enough for at least two meals.
2. Ditto with grains, such as rice, quinoa and farro. These work on their own or mixed with beans or lentils, or sprinkled on top of a salad.
3. Shred rotisserie chicken while it’s still warm (it’s easier to handle), and imagine how you can give it a second showing the next day. Salads are easy, but chicken works well mixed in with grains and legumes, too.
4. If you’ve got leftover steak, slice it super-thin and layer it in a tortilla with mashed potatoes (regular or sweet) and shredded cheese. Close the office door when you heat this up, because everyone will want one.
5. Most grains work just like rice in an Asian-style fried rice. Just stir-fry with your choice of vegetables, egg if you want, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger and garlic (and chiles, if you like it hot). I love fried rice right out of the fridge.
— Ellise Pierce
Broccoli and jalapeño fritters with avocado-yogurt salsa
Makes 18 (3-inch) fritters
Broccoli and jalapeño fritters:
- 3 cups broccoli florets, cooked
- 2 chopped pickled jalapeños
- 1/4 cup chopped white onion
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Avocado-yogurt salsa:
- 1/2 ripe avocado
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- Salt to taste
1. Put the broccoli, chopped jalapeños, onion, buttermilk and cheddar cheese in a medium bowl and give it a stir to combine.
2. In another bowl, whisk the dry ingredients — cornmeal, baking powder, cayenne, cumin and salt — together. Add this to the ingredients in the first bowl and stir together.
3. Mix in eggs.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Using an ice cream scoop, make as many fritters as will fit in the skillet, leaving 2 inches between them. Cook until brown on one side, then flip and cook on the other side. Make sure you don’t rush this step or have the flame too high — you want the fritters to cook completely on the inside as they brown. Remove and keep warm on a cookie sheet in a 200-degree oven. Repeat until all of the fritters are cooked.
5. While the fritters are cooking and keeping warm, put the avocado, yogurt, lime juice and salt in a food processor and blend until smooth.
6. Serve the fritters with a spoonful or two — or if you’re like me, three or four — of the sauce on top. These reheat easily in a hot (400-degree) oven, or in the toaster or microwave (Note: The microwave will make them soft rather than crispy).
Nutritional analysis per fritter: 111 calories, 6 grams fat, 9 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams protein, 31 milligrams cholesterol, 382 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber, 50 percent of calories from fat.
Tomato rice with shredded Mexican chicken
Makes 2 servings
Tomato rice:
- 2 tablespoons flavorless oil, such as grapeseed
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- 2 tablespoons minced shallot
- 1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- Salt to taste
Shredded Mexican chicken:
- 1 tablespoon canola or grapeseed oil
- 1 large clove of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon diced red bell pepper
- 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- A pinch cayenne pepper
- Salt to taste
- Cilantro, for serving
- Lime wedges, for serving
1. Make the tomato rice. Put the oil, rice and shallot in a medium saucepan over medium-low to medium heat and cook until the rice becomes opaque. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and water. Stir and cover. When the rice boils, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until done, about 45 minutes.
2. While the rice is cooking, prepare the chicken. Put the oil and garlic in a medium skillet over medium-low heat and cook just until you can smell the garlic, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chopped red bell pepper, stir, and cook until slightly softened, for another 3 or 4 minutes. Now add the chicken, spices and salt. Stir and warm through. Note: You may do this in advance.
3. When ready to combine the rice and chicken, add the chicken to the rice and gently mix to combine. Divide the mixture and serve with chopped cilantro sprinkled on top and lime wedges on the side.
Nutritional analysis per serving: 566 calories, 24 grams fat, 55 grams carbohydrates, 32 grams protein, 66 milligrams cholesterol, 201 milligrams sodium, 5 grams dietary fiber, 38 percent of calories from fat.
Avocado stuffed with Mediterranean tuna salad
Makes 2 servings
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 (5.6-ounce) can tuna, packed in olive oil
- 4 cherry tomatoes, chopped
- 4 Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
- 2 fresh basil leaves, chopped
- A pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- Salt to taste
1. Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Put each half on its own plate.
2. Drain the oil off of the tuna and put the tuna in a medium bowl. Flake with a fork and add the tomatoes, Kalamata olives, basil, red pepper flakes (if using), balsamic vinegar and salt. Toss and taste. Serve immediately by dividing between the avocado halves, or if packing for lunch, put the tuna mixture in a sealed container and wait to slice the avocado until you’re ready to eat.
Nutritional analysis per serving: 348 calories, 24 grams fat, 11 grams carbohydrates, 26 grams protein, 14 milligrams cholesterol, 442 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber, 60 percent of calories from fat.
Mache, arugula and broccoli salad and miso-tahini sauce
Makes 2 servings
- 3 1/2 ounces mache and arugula mix (or you can just use one)
- 2 cups steamed broccoli florets
- 1 cup cooked black rice
- 4 Kalamata olives, chopped
- 1 teaspoon white sesame seeds
- Miso-tahini sauce, recipe follows
Layer the following: mache and arugula mix, broccoli, black rice, Kalamata olives, sesame seeds. If packing for lunch, take miso-tahini sauce along and drizzle right before eating so you don’t have a soggy salad.
Cowgirl tip: Feel free to add leftover salmon, chicken or anything else that suits your fancy.
Nutritional analysis per serving, sauce included: 167 calories, 2 grams fat, 32 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams protein, no cholesterol, 107 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber, 12 percent of calories from fat.
Miso-tahini sauce:
Makes about 1 cup
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1/2 tablespoon white miso paste
- A few drops sesame oil
- About 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
Put all of the ingredients in a bowl. Whisk in as much warm water as needed — I used 1 to 2 tablespoons — to reach a pourable, somewhat-thin consistency.
Nutritional analysis per 2-tablespoon serving: 26 calories, 2 grams fat, 1 gram carbohydrates, 1 gram protein, no cholesterol, 65 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber, 69 percent of calories from fat.
This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 2:17 PM with the headline "The Cowgirl Chef: A lunch makeover using dinner leftovers."