I would like to touch on a conundrum that's haunted me since the days of the middle school cafeteria: what's for lunch?
I'm picky about lunch in the sense that it has to meet some pretty strict requirements as I tend to go all-out for dinner:
- Cheap. Preferably brought from my house.
- Light. Preferably healthy.
- Satisfying. Keeps me away from the vending machine.
- Quick and easy to prepare, since I'll mostly be scarfing from my desk.
- Not a microwave meal. I don't care how many advances in taste Lean Cuisine makes, there is nothing about a vacuum sealed meal that appeals to me. And my number one rule in life is: don't eat something you don't really want to for the sake of convenience. (I also despise lunch meat, so sandwich-making is out).
I usually end up with a heavy rotation of toasted english muffins + almond butter, ramen noodles (44 cents!), tortilla chips + salsa and/or guacamole, goat cheese + saltines, and leftovers - I live for leftovers, I made really good pasta the other night and it's lasted me several cold pasta lunches.
...always combined with a side of fruit and, if I've skipped my morning coffee, a Diet Coke.
Sometimes this satisfies, but sometimes it doesn't - leaving all hell to break lose.
I resort to microwave popcorn from the break room.
Or I venture out into the immediate barren desert (excluding China Chef, aka "tunnel chinese") that is the downtown lunch scene: a greasy "food court" or a Quizno's/Subway. Immediately hate myself for spending money on a subpar meal.
Where are all the food trucks!? Though I did hear we're getting a coolgreens soon!
Needless to say, I'm open to suggestions.
p.s. Tonight I'm eating at Cajun King, which pretty much requires an all-day fast building up to it. I know this sounds crazy, but I swear the catfish there tastes like angel's wings. If you haven't been yet, go!
