Summer Lunch

Black-eyed pea salad, olives, carrots, broccoli. Blueberry gelatin, Trader Joe's meringue cookie plus a few TJ's chocolate pomegranate seeds.

Summer is here--time for lunches that are more vegetable-y and refreshing. Black-eyed peas make a nice salad because they're tasty, they cook fast, and they're small. There are several recipes on the internet for bean salads. I tend to make some variation of tabouli, substituting the beans for the bulgar wheat, but you could easily make something Italian, Greek, Mexican, or whatever seasonings you enjoy. This salad was made with minced herbs--cilantro, mint, scallions, basil--and dressed with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. Toss in some carrots for color and a shake of salt.

Summer is the time to take shrimp off the menu, or any food that gets stinky when it's warm--remember, you're going to have to clean out the containers at the end of the day! This lunch will be nice to eat even in a warm environment, and leftovers won't make you gag even if the lunchbox is forgotten in the car overnight. It helps that all the ingredients were prepared the night before and well chilled. I made the gelatin firmer this week so it wouldn't melt as easily. An ice pack in the lunch bag helps, of course; even better, freeze a juice box or fill a water bottle with ice sticks and your diner will have a cool beverage to sip. For really hot days, stock up on frozen peas and add them at the last minute to bean salads, pasta salads, or even tuna sandwich filling. Another snack that freezes well is nuts. By incorporating a few frozen items into an already well-chilled menu, and by using an insulated lunch bag, you can keep foods safe and appealing up until lunch time.