Lunch-A-Bunch

I work near the Sears Tower in Chicago and surprisingly there are very few really healthy options for lunch. I rarely eat out and when I do I’m surprised at how much money nutrient-poor meals out cost. It’s a lose-lose situation: unhealthy food for too much money. My Ayurvedic guru, Matthew Remski, who looks nothing like a guru, gave me this brilliant recipe. I try to make lunch my biggest meal of the day which isn’t easy when I’m super stressed at work and I get most of my requests just when I want to go to lunch! The answer is the thermos flask lunch. You can find a wide mouth thermos at hardware stores or army navy surplus retailers. Here’s a recipe for Kitchadi, or simply put mung beans and rice that cooks in the thermos while you are toiling at work!

Ingredients:

¼ cup split yellow mung beans, ¼ cup basmati rice
1 ½ cup fresh vegetables, cut small to fit in the thermos
1-2 T of ghee or your dosha appropriate oil
2-4 cups of boiled water
Whole or ground spices (I like sea salt, ginger, turmeric)

Wash the mung beans and rice at least 3 times. Soaking the beans and rice overnight is ideal if you have the time. Saute the spices in ghee or oil. Add the mung beans, rice and chopped veggies. Cover with water and simmer for five minutes. While still boiling hot pour the mixture into the thermos. You can spoon the mixture in but don’t let it cool. Top off with boiling water from the kettle to make a soupier more liquid lunch (not “martini” liquid lunch but you know!) Close the thermos completely and quickly. Your lunch should cook and be ready to eat after four hours. Of course there is some experimentation here. You could always do a “stunt” run on a Saturday or Sunday and take notes and then by Monday you could have it down to a science. Stocky vegetables like carrots or beets will take longer to cook, lighter vegetables or leafy greens will cook quicker.

You can substitute beans and lentils for the mung beans to create endless combinations. I also pack some fresh herbs in a little ziplock and add them just before eating. I use some finely chopped cilantro but you can use whatever you like as well.

Now for something completely different . . . my artwork was featured on the WCA Art Waves International site. It’s a collection of postcards regarding sustaining the environment. I latticed a bunch of old newspapers, then used decopage to seal the work so I could paint on it. I’ve been working on some new collages. I'm "showing up" in the studio every morning before work. It seems to be working. I'll have more artwork to post later.