This past week I have managed to make just enough food for dinner. This sad truth means that our lunches have been rather redundant as I rely pretty heavily on left-overs for lunch the following day. Bread and cheese is good but bread and cheese every day is a bit, hmmm, how shall I say it.... dry.
Today was the third or fourth day in a row that followed a Feasting of the Hollow Legs Dinner the night before and bread and cheese once again made it on the menu. To top it all off, my littlest one was running a fever which put me in a mind to have something especially good for the immune system on the menu. Think garlic, onions, veggies, bone broth, and the like.
Lunch time was upon us and I, trying desperately to throw some creativity into the bread and cheese mixture, was perusing the pantry in search of that magic ingredient that would make our lunch gourmet. My gaze passed over the onions, not just one or two onions but a whole pile of them! What was I thinking to buy a dozen onions on Friday? So there those onions were looking back at me and who should come to mind but Julia Child... Julia Child and her French Onion Soup.
I kicked into high gear as the lunch hour was growing late, did a quick search on the internet for the necessary bits of inspiration and set to motion. On goes the pan, in goes a rather large chunk of butter. Yum... it is already smelling delicious! Oh, wait a moment... what is that smell? Oops, the pan it too hot. Pan is turned down and in go a few chopped onions topped with salt and pepper to cook away into deliciousness. Out comes the whole wheat sourdough bread in thick slices. (I seem to recall crusty bread in the bowl of French Onion Soup...) Bowls dance out of the cupboard and welcome the bread while they await the soup. Hmmm... wondering if onions will suffice when feeding five kids under the age of 10? Probably not! Checking the fridge for further inspiration while fully aware that all the “frenchness” and “gourmetness” is dashing for cover as I consider throwing in various “extra” items. Out come the carrots and an old wilted celery heart. Chop, chop, chop and into the pan they go. Bone broth should be the next ingredient but the last of that had already been commandeered by the beans and rice cooking away in the crockpot. Plan B... water. Herbs now audition for a part in the show with dill and basil being chosen. (I know these are probably not supposed to be in French Onion Soup but without time for the truly deep flavors to develop, I had to rely on something!) Children peeking and peering to see what they get to eat. Turn the soup on high, cover and boil... boil fast please! Testing now and yes it is good but oh, don’t burn your tongue! Just a few more minutes as the carrots soften their personality and the brick of cheese transforms itself into a more easily snitched temptation to those eager children now thronging about. Soups is ladled over the bread and heaps of cheese piled on top to melt. Lunch time!
I am not sure what I would call this lunch as I am truly sure it would make a french chef turn up their nose but the kids sure liked it! It changed our bread and cheese lunch into something fun and tasted great all at the same time!
So when I get on a roll with food inventions I don’t stop easily! As the afternoon wore on I developed a strong desire for trail mix. Since we all seem to be fighting a bug of some sort, I didn’t want to load us up with anything too sweet such as raisins but I also knew I didn’t like salted almonds by themselves! That just didn’t cut it! The almonds are good but the salt falls right off and it simply cannot pass for trail mix! So, once again, I stood at the fridge looking for some magical alternative to reveal itself. I needed something that wasn’t too sweet but that would go well with almonds and hold a nicely dispersed amount of salt to mix with the nuts. Cilantro? No. Celery? No. Tomatoes? No. Carrots? Hmmm... I figured it would be worth a try and having such willing taste testers I figured it would eventually get eaten up so even if it didn’t taste great nothing would be wasted. I threw a bunch of almonds in a bowl and with four sets of eager eyes watching pulled out my secret ingredient, carrots, and set to chopping. I diced them up pretty small and then searched the various food folders in my mind for further ideas on how to make a delicious Carrot Almond Trail Mix. I went with the carrot cake theme and threw in some salt, a good amount of cinnamon, and some nutmeg to taste. Believe it or not, it was a tasty, fresh trail mix and was gone in minutes!
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