As a defiant response to Sad Desk Lunches, the Food52 team works to keep our midday meals both interesting and pretty. Each week, we'll be sharing our happiest desk lunches -- and we want to see yours, too.
Today: A handful of dinner ideas that play double duty as tomorrow's hand-held lunch.
Let's not talk about today's lunch; let's talk about tonight's dinner, and how it's going to get reincarnated as a sandwich.
Because if you plan a little bit ahead, and you have some bread somewhere in your general vicinity, you'll have leftovers that slip perfectly between two slices, going from night to day just as smoothly as that kicky sweater goes from day to night.
Here are seven dinners that you can make tonight and then repurpose as tomorrow's sandwich. Be wary of saucy ingredients; if you want to play it safe, pack everything separately and assemble deskside to avoid soggy bread.
1. Start with roast chicken, a dish with possibly the highest ROI of any dinner, ever. Layer it with aioli and arugula, or turn it into chicken salad; it will keep paying you edible dividends all week.
2. Even lentils can become a sandwich, when thickened with tomato paste and piled atop a soft bun. These sloppy joes are vegan, but we won't tell if you slide a piece of cheese in there.
3. Cutlets in a flavorful sauce -- like these Chicken Cutlets Grilled in Charmoula with Quick-Cured Lemon Confit -- are less likely to dry out on day two. Especially if you smear a little mayonnaise or mustard on your bread.Plus, this confit makes the perfect sandwich condiment.
4. Another meatless option is Grilled Peanut Tofu: Make extra sauce, and pile it high with fresh or pickled crunchy vegetables.
5. Spanish Tortilla is traditionally served cold anyways, and often swaddled in a baguette with a bit of aioli. We suggest you do as the Spaniards do.
6. For those of you who are into throwing weeknight dinner parties, we have good news: Pâté or cheese, spread onto bread, is a completely acceptable lunch.
7. And, in the go-big-or-go-home category, you have steak sandwiches. Do it big for dinner, then do it again for lunch, paired with chimichurri, mayonnaise, and Texas toast. You might need to nap under your desk at 2 PM, but at least you will have eaten well.
Tell us: What are your favorite leftover sandwiches?
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Written by: Marian Bull
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6 Comments
I hope you'll do a sequel on pita based lunches. If you have a microwave and a clean damp tea towel, you can warm the pocket up and put just about any leftover into it, plus garnishes, etc. I almost always cut (or toast, if talking about seeds, nuts, etc.) extras when making our evening salad, to stir into pilafs, or otherwise garnish whatever I'm having for lunch, etc. ;o) P.S. For the record, we don't do (or allow) desk lunches here because it does not provide a sufficient break. We find that our thinking is clearer and our work product far better when we take time away from the office in the middle of the day.
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