Fun Revamping Leftover Soba Lunch!

Great art & cute concept doesn't make up for disproportionate ratio of noodles to shrimp! I brought home enough soba for 2 more lunches! Crazy. All carbs & not enough protein makes us cranky! Gotta have good balance. So, for today's lunch, I added shredded ready roast chicken & leftover veggies, revved up with Huy Fong chili sauce, side of my home made kimchi, now we're talking!

Char siu ramen noodle soup, not bad.

2 shrimp tempura soba noodle soup, not worth $11!! Why served in a tacky mixing bowl? Did they run out of serving bowls? Not a fan of veggie mix.

Revamped lunch today.

www.wokstar.us

Yin and Yang Lunch

Yin and Yang Lunch: cold salad and spicy chicken curry...

Field greens, grape tomatoes, pickled cue & radishes

Reheated leftover Malaysian Chicken Curry and dipped with whole wheat toast (too hungry to reheat frozen paratha or chipati!) Think my mom wouldn't approve, Asians like to dip with white bread. You'll read about this in my post.

Last night, I packed this same curry for my hubby's lunch, added some stir fried veggies (leftovers for the veggie curry) and topped with a wok heated chipati. Also packed a tiny tub of pickled cue & radishes to balance the spiciness.

Whole Foods Market Salad Bar

Good to see Whole Foods Market in South Beach added a few more 'protein' items to their Salad Bar! If I had to eat there on a daily basis, this could get truly BORING!!!

C'mon, give us some variety! Take a look at my 5 Lunch Tips for some simple ideas.

Shrimp salad, cabbage almond slaw, quinoa lentil, feta olive orzo, plain toufu, beets, field greens.

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5 Lunch Tips

Today's Lunch, all from leftovers: chick pea curry, stir fried toufu, Sakaya's Kitchen's coconut rice; field green salad (see tip 2 below); orange segments for dessert.

Trick is to balance your protein/carb to keep your energy UP! I'm not a nutritionist but on the cusp of diabetes (inherited from my mom), so I have to be vigilant! But this applies to anyone.

Tip one: shop for seasonal veggies so you get the freshest & best quality

Tip two: buy a variety of salad fixings like field greens, baby spinach leaves, grape tomatoes, radishes, red onions, hothouse cucumbers(American ones have lots of tough seeds, after scooping out there's no flesh left!)

Tip three: texture can be pumpkin seeds, cashews, sunflower seeds, pine nuts

Tip four: Always bring home leftovers from restaurants no matter how teeny they are! I hate wasting food (I can hear my mom)

Tip Five: make a jar of salad dressing which lasts a whole week! (simple: good mustard, olive oil, balsamic or rice vinegar or fresh lime juice, salt, fresh cracked black pepper, thwack a garlic clove) Put lid on, shake, Done!!!

Satisfying with variety, color, texture, spice - Easy, Enjoy, YUM!

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Lunch Ideas

Curry beef puff from Asian bakery and leftover veggies of bok choy,
zucchini and bell peppers

I've written about Wok Breakfasts and One-dish Wok Meals, all cooked in my lightweight, cast iron wok so the only meal missing is Lunch!

Leftover grilled hoisin salmon with spinach, red onion,
dried cranberry, quinoa salad.

Leftover from cooking class: Tilapia, toufu puffs, zucchini,
bell peppers, brown rice made into a curry soup.

Salad of field greens, spinach, jicama,
tomatoes, dried cranberries.

There's Lunch for my husband and Lunch for me. Lunch for him is easy, usually I make more dinner and he'll have that. I always pack him a fresh fruit salad, same way I make my Healthy and Delicious Snack.

Leftovers from cooking class: soy chicken, yellow squash,
bell peppers heated in wok with chili garlic sauce dip.
Salad with romaine lettuce, cranberries, cubed jicama,
bell peppers, scallions with French Vinaigrette dressing.

Toufu with salad of field greens, pumpkin seeds,
dried cranberries with naan. Longans for dessert.

Fresh salad is a must on a daily basis, my body craves raw veggies. Lunch for me is usually leftovers from dinner, my cooking classes or food that needs clearing out from the fridge. Some eaten cold, some warmed up in my wok.

Toufu puff with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cubed jicama,
bell peppers with wholewheat toast.

I'm constantly saying it takes longer for me to make lunch than my dinner because you need lots of fixings to make it interesting. Whereas it's so easy for dinner, it just takes 2 veggies and a protein to make a one-dish meal.

Leftover char siu warmed in wok, Laurenzo's Greek salad
and Italian bread.

Some typical fixings:
tomatoes, cucumber, marinaded artichokes, cubed jicama, chayote, bell peppers and scallions (all leftovers from Rainbow Lettuce Wraps when I give cooking classes). Quinoa adds an extra protein hit to help balance your protein/carb ratio especially for diabetics.

Here are some ingredients I use to make my own salad dressing:

Eden Selected Ume Plum Vinegar, Rice wine vinegar,
San-J Tamari, Sesame Oil

I love trying different salad dressings:

La Sandwicherie French Vinaigrette, dried cranberries,
pumpkin seeds

Also try Annie's Goddess Salad Dressing, Makoto Ginger Carrot Dressing
Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce, Eden Gomasio Black & Tan Sesame
Seeds & Sea Salt, Ocho Rios Jerk seasoning

I don't measure, just taste and adjust seasonings. For a simple dressing, here's a rough proportion: about 4 tblsp. olive oil, half of fresh lime juice, pinch sea salt, teaspoon mustard, few shakes of chili flakes (also curry powder or jerk seasoning). Put in a small jar and shake it up.

Here are some dispensers I use to make pouring my dressing easier, you can pick them up at Asian markets and dollar stores:

Salad dressing, Chili Flakes, spare dressing dispenser

Here are a few lunch blogs that may fuel you with ideas:

This beautiful blog is by lady architects:
http://lunchstudio.blogspot.com/

Talking about lady architects, Wok Star Amy, a lovely Malaysian lady architect living in LA cooks many lunches for her husband in her wok:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amytanwl/Bento#

Ah, I actually deleted the section on Tiffin Carriers because it's a whole other blog. But I think this is a great lunch blog:
http://tiffintin.net/

This Lunchboxbunch blog has tons of kid friendly ideas:
http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/08/back-to-school-series-ten-lunchbox.html

For our vegan friends:
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/

Chicken sausage with field greens, tomatoes, jicama, pumpkin seeds and quinoa salad.

I would love to hear how you come up with your lunch ideas. Keep ideas for packed lunches for another blog though...If you liked this, share it with your friends...

Other Wok Meals you'll enjoy: