Packed lunch ideas: bring in the broth
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Version 0 of 1. Broth is the food buzzword of the moment and, while we aren’t quite organised enough to premake stock for our lunchtime soups (our shoebox-sized freezers couldn’t store it even if we did) there are other ways you can enjoy a steamy, soothing bowl from the your desk, without recourse to the canteen or cafe. Rather than boiling meat, veg or fish with water as per tradition, fast-track your way to flavour with a selection of carefully chosen ingredients: stock cubes, bouillon, even Marmite. So don’t be a sloth (or rather, do): put on the office kettle and make some speedy broth. • Try a (loose) thrifty and light riff on onion soup with minimal prep-at-home time: very finely slice one leek, and cook in butter or oil, with a sprig of rosemary and a crushed garlic clove, until soft and slightly caramelised. Decant into a Tupperware. At lunch, boil the kettle, and make up 500ml chicken stock, using half a cube (we like the Knorr jelly stock pots – for a veggie version use bouillon). Add half a teaspoon of Marmite to this and mix. Add stock and leeks to a bowl and leave to sit, covered with a clean tea towel, for 5 minutes. Fish out the rosemary before eating with a buttered crusty roll for dunking. • Miso soup sachets are readily available now and are the ultimate instant lunch-from-desk ingredient (the Saituku brand available from Ocado is suitable for vegetarians, unlike some others). Just add hot water to the sachet contents in a heatproof bowl. To bulk it up, add some thinly sliced tenderstem broccoli and/or cubes of silken tofu. A little chilli oil can be nice too. • Bring an Asian broth base in from home: in a little jam jar add a dash of soy sauce, fish sauce, and a little grated ginger and garlic. At the office, place in a heatproof bowl and add thinly sliced pak choi, chilli, and coriander. (You could also add any other thinly sliced veg you happen to have, or fancy, at this point: mushrooms, beansprouts…) Finish with some lime juice if you wish. • This recipe involves a little more home prep, but nothing beats a rice chicken soup. Boil a portion of rice, cool under a cold tap, then drain. Pack in a Tupperware container along with any leftover chicken, frozen peas, and half a carrot, shaved into ribbons. The next day at work, dissolve half a stock cube in a heatproof bowl while you microwave your rice, chicken, carrots and (now defrosted) peas. Pop into the bowl and enjoy with a pinch of salt if necessary. |