lunch boxes

It felt like high time to expand my lunch options. I've been having the same sort of soups and salads for lunch for weeks, with only minor variations. Time to shake things up a little and make the work day just a little more interesting.

My Seattle-dwelling friend Carisa is a Mexican food fiend, so when she recommended this Mexican soup recipe I figured it must be a good one. Monday was not a good day at work, and it didn't seem like Tuesday was likely to be much better, so a burst of Mexican sunshine in a bowl seemed like the thing to lift my spirits.

I made a few changes to the recipe due to the contents of my cupboards and to adapt it to my taste buds - I didn't have quite enough chickpeas, I used pheasant instead of chicken (we had roast pheasant on sunday and there was just enough left over for this recipe), and added a sprinkle of chilli flakes for heat, and a handful of spinach. Also, we were out of oregano so I used thyme. The measurements in cups instead of grams added a little complication to the process, but I think I got the quantities about right.

I made a rookie-error and under-seasoned the dish, but that was easily rectified at the eating stage. I think if I made this again I'd add a bit more spice - it could do with being a little punchier flavoured for my tastes.



Overall? Sopa Ranchera was tasty, easy to make, with one or two minor adjustments it will make a good spring or autumn lunch.

My second lunchbox experiment was Ottolenghi's Aubergine Cheesecake. I ordered the Ottolenghi cookbook the other day, so while I waited for it to arrive I figured I would browse his recipes from The Guardian newspaper and get some practice in!

I do love it when something looks this colourful and enticing before its even finished:


I adapted the recipe again to suit my fridge contents, using a mild soft goats cheese instead of cream cheese and yoghurt instead of double cream, so my version is probably a bit sharper flavoured than the recipe intended.



It is like a pastry-less quiche. I can completely see why Ottolenghi describes it as a savoury cheesecake as it has a similar texture to it.



It travelled well to work and made a more interesting lunch box than usual, so I'll definitely make this again. Creamy and delicious.

Find the recipe here.