lunch-spired

Mixed success on my desire to reinvigorate my boring/depressing/unsatisfying lunches. Today’s did really rock my life- I love love love savory cottage cheese bowls!

Today’s had all the colors of the rainbow! Well, no blue.

Green pepper, carrots, some TJ’s soycotash, peanuts, Bragg’s sea kelp delight (God help me, I am such a freaking hippie- I eat and enjoy, nay CRAVE, something called “sea kelp delight”), and Sriracha.

And yes, there really is cottage cheese. See it peeking out at the edge?

My favorite accompaniment to the savory cottage cheese bowl is the wonderful, sesame-sprinkled, crunchy, 100% whole grain, Akmak cracker!

Mixed everything into an ugly mess and got my dip on :D

My favorite thing about cottage cheese is that it has magical fullness powers for me. Whenever I have cottage cheese for lunch- or even more so when I mix it into my morning bowl of oatmeal- I am full and satisfied and literally do not think of food for hours. I cannot say that about many foods, but cottage cheese applies, as does lentils. And as does a burger, but I decidedly hope that keeps me full, as it’s considerably higher in fat and calories than the previous two!

Do you have foods that have magical fullness powers for you?

So savory cottage cheese is great and creativity-inducing. Other than that, however, quite honestly, my lunches have been attractive rearrangements of leftovers.

Grilled sweet potatoes; green pepper with spicy orange hummus.

Avec plain yogurt with Ruth’s Chia Goodness, apple cinnamon flavored, sprinkled atop (this was good! I hate “chia pudding” but I like sprinkling chia seeds on top of something so they keep their crunch)

Didn’t get any pictures on day 1, but this is the leftovers of my soon dubu jiggae (spicy tofu stew- I got it with seafood) from Lighthouse Tofu with my fellow bloggettes.

I was pleased with this restaurant-riffic presentation. I had rice on the side (brown rather than white, cause I love my fiber) and also kimchi, which, being a denizen of Little Korea, they sell at my local Safeway. Please note that it is in my fish-shaped (good luck!) bowl that I bought in Asia!

Since I went with the spicy-spicy (whoo!) I ate it the way they recommend at Lighthouse Tofu: sopped up with rice to cut the heat!

I actually liked this better as leftovers- when you order spicy-spicy, I think they just add extra chiles or chile sauce to your serving, so it’s all pretty raw and unincorporated. When the flavors get a chance to meld, it’s still hella spicy but the flavor is more complex.

Also, more lentils ‘n rice. I gave it some Mexicanity with green peppers, salsa, and wonderful wonderful cado. Avocado and lentils are not a traditional pairing but they really should be, cause they’re awesome together.

Wow I’m just realizing how many green peppers I have actually been eating. These guys are from the farmer’s market and I always appreciate green peppers for their color and crunch, but these are genuinely flavorful! They taste so yummy and… pepper-y!