Lentil Soup and Nut Bread

I feel like such a bad blogger, lately I'm just not in the mood to prepare nice lunches for the office, and I often buy something.
For this day I just made a lentil soup and nut bread with lentil spread (so I could empty the jar) and grated courgette. I still had a storebought carrot croquette at the fridge in the office.

Travel Provisions

I visited my family in Germany during the long weekend and could not get a direct flight, so I planned a lot of food for my morning on planes and airports.
I usually bring similar stuff, this time I had energy balls made of cocoa, dates and nuts, vegetarian pigs in a blanket, some cherry tomatoes and sandwich with a chickpea filling. Lots of proteins here!
I usually buy a bottle of water or a smoothie once I've passed the security check.

Dal and Potato Bhajias

A lunch with Indian inspiration - I had rice with dal and the potato bhajias from Linda Majzlik: A vegan taste of India. I brought some ketchup as a dip in the small container.
My midmorning snack was a sandwich with avocado and a red coleslaw.

Mittwochsbox 26th of March, 2013 - Greek

On two wednesdays a month Mone from the German website http://leckerbox.com/ invites bloggers to show a takeaway lunch about a theme she proposes. This week the motto was "Greek kitchen".
Unfortunately I waited till yesterday before I made and photographed my lunch, and I was not really happy about it, especially about the presentation, but I didn't have time for something new.
So, here it is: big white beans in tomato sauce and courgettes with a tomato-bulgur-filling plus some raw bell pepper. The recipe for the courgettes is from Linda Majzlik: A vegan taste of Greece, the same as the dessert based on dried fruit.

Couscous and Burger

This looks absolutely huge, but that's because I brought a burger for second breakfast and packed all the ingredients separately. In the small container I had some homemade zucchini-salsa.
When planning my lunch, I had a look in the freezer and found this - a second portion of the African corn-stew that I already had weeks ago, this time with couscous. As a side dish I brought some edamame.

Rice with Vegetables, Lentils and Hummus Rolls

For this lunch I made a colourful rice with fried vegetables and accompanied it by a fruity lentil dish. My midmorning snack were carrot rolls filled with hummus. I wasn't to keen on the rolls because I had to precook the carrots to be able to bend them, and I don't really like the sweetish taste of cooked carrots, unless they are nicely seasoned or combined with something a bit stronger.
Today everything was vegan.

White lunch

I suppose this could be considered a thematic lunch, as this day everything I brought was white/whitish.
My main dish was a pasta salad that brings lots of childhood memories. My parents and I  don't have the same taste when it comes to food, but this is one of my mother's recipes that I make regularly.
It couldn't be easier, just mix cooked and cooled pasta with mayonnaise, cooked peas and pieces of tangerine. Salt and pepper, ready! Whereas usually it's recommendable to use fresh vegetables and fruit, this salad is best made with both peas and tangerines from the can. I find it quite retro. Or is it vintage, if my mother has been making it regularly since the seventies? ;-)
My second breakfast were sandwich bread rolls with cheese, mustard and gherkins, accompanied by raw cauliflower.

Mexican Lunch

For this thematic lunch I made chili sin carne, quesadillas and mini tomatoes filled with guacamole.
The quesadillas are really easy to make, I learned it the other day on the internet: Place a tortilla in a hot pan without oil, sprinkle some grated cheese on it and put another tortilla on top. When the first tortilla starts to brown slightly,flip the whole thing and wait until the other side is slighty brown, too. Serve cut into quarters.

Soup and Pretzel

For this lunch I brought a tomato soup with pumpkin, white beans and little dumplings. I accompanied it with a pretzel - a convenience product that I just put in the oven in the morning. My snack were little skewers with mandarines and pieces of fennel, marinated in a ginger-vinaigrettte.

Pasta, Lentils and a Bagel

For this lunch I brought one of my standard dishes, pasta with vegan goulash.
The side dish was something new, a Sicilian recipe for lentils with aubergine.
My midmorning snack was a bagel with coleslaw, I used this recipe for the slaw:
http://noteatingoutinny.com/2008/08/06/honey-wasabi-coleslaw/

Couscous with Spicy Lentils

For this lunch I made couscous and a spicy, Indian-inspired lentil sauce. As snacks I brought along raw cauliflower and two seitan sausages. Both delicious!

Lentil Soup and Quiche

The main dish of this day was supposed to be the Italian lentil soup with pasta, I only considered the homemade spinach quiche a side dish. But it turned out I didn't really like the soup and was happy to have brought such a big piece of quiche.
The snack are homemade energy balls with hazelnuts and walnuts.

Indian Lunch

Today I cheated - my dal isn't homemade, these are leftovers from an Indian take-away meal. But I used it to create a theme - I made vegan samosas and curry-cauliflower.
You can find the recipe for the samosas (in German) here:
http://fafner.dyndns.org/~mitsam/cgi-bin/rz3.pl?Rezept=Samosa
[Google translator can help all those who don't speak German :-)]
The curry-cauliflower was invented by my boyfriend and is very easy to make:
Separate the cauliflower in little florets and fry them with oil in a pan until they start to brown slightly. In the meantime, mix a small quantity of yellow curry paste with water. Pour the mixture over the cauliflour florets in the pan, go on frying and stir regularly to coat the florets from all sides. The water will evaporate and you will end up with delicious spicy and slightly crunchy cauliflower.
My second breakfast was a smoothie made of fruit (kiwi, apple, orange, some pomegranate seeds), a tomato, a bit of oatmeal and ground almonds plus a splash of agave syrup.

Vegan Bean Soup with Sesame-Cucumber Sandwich

On this day in November I brought sweet couscous for second breakfast in the office.
It's very easy to make: I added not only some hot water, but also a bit of orange juice and orange slices, sugar, cinnamon, sliced almonds and a tablespoon of margarine to the couscous. Delicious.
For my (completely vegan) lunch I had bean soup with a sandwich.
The simple recipe for the bean soup is from my mother: Boil diced potatoes in vegetable stock, then add canned beans of your choice (I had green, red and white beans), add salt and pepper to taste, ready.  I also added two sliced soy sausages to make it more hearty. This soup tastes even better after a day or two.
I used the delicious bread that I brought back after visiting my parents in Germany to make a sandwich with sesame spread and cucumber slices.