Legumes to the Lunchbox Rescue

I'm new to the Daily Tiffin, so by way of introduction, I'm Glenna of A Fridge Full of Food blog. By career, I'm a former convention/meeting planner and cake decorator. Currently, I am a respiratory therapist for a city hospital by evening and a freelance writer working on her first novel by day.

Because I work an odd-ish shift, 2pm-11pm, I eat dinner at work. I've found, over the last two years through trial and error (mostly errors at the vending machines and at the cafeteria grill) that I'm a happier, healthier, thinner (relatively speaking) women when I pack a lunch...er...dinner. Sure, there are salads and some steamed beyond life vegetables available in the hospital cafeteria, but amazingly, none of them ever seem to make it onto my tray no matter how many mornings I vow to myself that today I will ignore the chili dog and tater tot special or the grilled ham & swiss with potato chips. On the other hand, when I pack my dinner at home, none of those "bad" foods ever make it into my bento and yet I never feel deprived or yearn for them.

Tonight's dinner is the perfect proof of the point: lentil/orzo salad with fresh veggies. Chilled and refreshing for a hot August evening and packed with vitamins B-12, A, C, and carotene, lunch (Dinner) boxes don't have to be boring and neither does healthy. It feels good to take my cute little bento box in it's pretty fabric carrier and even more fun to open my dinner under the envious eyes of my coworkers.

The lentil salad is a simple combination of 1 cup lentils cooked with onion and carrot, and then cooled, along with 1 cup of cooked and cooled orzo. The salad is seasoned with one chopped green onion, one chopped rib of celery, 2 Tbsp of expeller-pressed walnut oil, salt and pepper.

The salad was combined and dinnerbox packed in under fifteen minutes since the lentils and orzo had been pre-cooked and chilled in the fridge. And there's enough left over to take to work tomorrow. Yum, something to look forward to.

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This Post was written by Glenna from A Fridge Full of Food