Today’s lunchbox might be a good time to mention that I no longer post my lunchbox the exact day I eat it. I miss the real-time feeling of doing that but logistically it is just not possible. I have alluded to this before, so this should not come as a surprise, but I I generally post the previous day’s lunchbox, or the one from two days earlier. That said, naming this series “Yesterday’s Lunchbox” just sounds, well, stale. Today’s lunchbox is from this past Monday, a day of singularly bad light (and big thunderstorms) here. I almost did not post this lunchbox at all because of the pictures, but I do want to keep things real, and sometimes your lunchbox will look like kind of a mess (see, carrot dressing on the right).
Here are lunch and two snacks:
- Leftover quinoa, combined with diced fennel and some frozen edamame,
- Green Onion Miso Vinaigrette from Appetite for Reduction to top the quinoa and edamame
- Nori, for stirring into the quinoa.
- Dandelion greens (the first I have seen at the Dupont Market in a long time!)
- Carrot Ginger Dressing, also from Appetite for Reduction. to top the greens
- Kale banana smoothie (I really need to get back off the banana smoothie kick)
As you might remember from last week, one of my current cooking projects is basing a lot of my meals on Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s latest book:
Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes
The book is chockfull of low-fat vegan recipes. Both of these dressings contain minimal oil so I wanted to try them to see if there was a huge difference caused by the lack of oil. The Carrot Ginger Dressing is a complete winner but I found the Green Onion Miso Vinaigrette to be only ok, though admittedly my tweaking the recipe may have something to do with it. The only downside of this book is that it relies heavily on salt – more than my husband is supposed to eat, so I am very conscious of dialing down sodium content. Therefore, I cut back on the miso in the green onion dressing, which I think in the original recipe masks some of the onion bitterness. Stirred into the quinoa, the dressing was far better than I initially thought, but unless the leftovers are amazing, likely not a remake, especially compared to the stellar Carrot Ginger Dressing. That said, I have now made six recipes from Appetite for Reduction and loved five, so I am still really liking the book, even with having to alter quantities of miso and salt to make the recipes lower-sodium.
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Specific Disclosure: I received this lunchbox container free of charge. My view of this item is not influenced in any way by the fact I received this item free of charge
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the green smoothie with the purple lid! Another gorgeous color combo.
Can't afford to buy all the cookbooks I want but there is always the library with new ones to try. Surprisingly they had "Appetite for Reduction". Someone already had it checked out but I put a hold on it. So soon I'll be able to try some of the great recipes you mention from the book.
Thanks for your response. I'm familiar with Happy Herbivore. The library doesn't have her book and neither did Barnes & Noble but I ordered it from Amazon last week and it should be here shortly.
mmmm carrot ginger dressing sounds delicious! I love anything with ginger in it
Meri
merigoesround.blogspot.com
since you used miso paste in one of the recipes, could you give me some info about which miso pastes are gluten-free? Ive been having some trouble finding any information on that. the lunch looks great!
@missmarc – you are reminding me I need to add a disclaimer to my blog about ingredients and such. So here is what I have found with miso – there are generally soy misos, barley misos, and legume misos. I discovered the brand South River Miso through Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl and Kimm of Affairs of Living, who are both gluten-intolerant. When I was doing my super long elimination diet, I had to avoid soy for a while, and South River Miso have a chickpea and azuki miso, so that was super handy. South River has 10 misos, 8 of which are made with non-gluten containing ingredients. However, they do make two misos with barley so I emailed them to get specifics. I would encourage you to contact them yourself if you have more questions, but basically, they use the same equipment to make the barley varieties as the varieties with no gluten ingredients, and make the miso in batches so a barley miso and a non-barley miso are never being made at the same time. They did assure me the equipment is washed thoroughly in between batches, but they suggest to everyone who writes and calls that they simply have to decide for themselves. I do love their products and have not had a problem, and have had issues with other misos – basically, my rule of thumb is to look for misos that do not contain any gluten ingredients (ie avoid barley miso) or ingredients I do not recognize (like additives/extracts – ie I look for an ingredient list that is basically brown rice or a legume, cultures, vegetables/sea vegetables, salt, water) and are open with information about gluten cross contamination. Another brand I would encourage you to look at is Eden Foods as they have a whole guide to their gluten-free products and when I have called them have always had super specific information (down to the production line). I just happen to really love South River Miso and do ok with their products.
@Eliz – I love bright colors in food. I just need to translate that to other parts of my life!
Johanna B – Glad your library has Appetite for Reduction!
Meri – I love ginger too!