Friday, September 11, 2009

Nobody saw it coming

I'm a notorious lunch-out-er. I've been known to have lunch out as early as 9 in the morning and as late as 7 in the "afternoon." Maybe it comes from disdain for the peanut butter sandwiches that filled up the lunches of my school days, or perhaps it is a convoluted expression of my desire to institutionalize the siesta in the US. (I mean, who doesn't want a break from everything for a nap right after lunch, refueling your energy level for more late-night fun?) Whatever the cause, no one is ever suprised to find me without a lunch from home. And, really, although I will lunch at chain restaurants or salad bars, I enjoy experimenting more. I love cart-food (an appreciation I picked up in Puerto Rico) and cafes with out-door seating. I enjoy restaurants that prepare a special menu, or just pare their menus down for the hours between 10 and 3. I adore coffee shops and bookstores with sandwiches.

I wish I could say that I came to the realization that I was going to cut down on lunching out when I was analyzing (in detail! with a calculator!) my new New-York-City-on-a-grad-student-budget finances. But I really came to the realization at the grocery store. Because really...REALLY people, it all just suddenly made sense. I had nice cheese (leftover from a rained-out Labor Day get-together), I had spinach and condiments, and man would all that go good with some cajun turkey. I think what finally won me over were the options. Because all those cafes and coffee shops each have their own fabulous options, but with the power of the grocery store, I could essentially make whatever I wanted for lunch. I could experiment exactly how I wanted to experiment. It was very promising.

All of you are undoubtedly going "DUH!" at this point, for which I can really only begrudge you the outmoded vocabulary. But really, you think I would have picked up on this sooner. I am sure it came from a combination of my limited income and oh yeah food-buying wasn't my workjob. (PS, Did you ever ask David H that one joke about the light bulb because it is hilarious for co-opers...Do it.) So, what with excessive overachievement on one hand coupled with a total unwillingness to do anything superfluous on the other, I haven't regularly bought groceries, I'm embarassed to say. Ever.

There was my first year at college, in the dorms, with the mini fridge, but the roommate always treated me with such disdain that I felt guilty for eating a pickle (vegetable...!). Than there was that one summer I lived "alone" but they had a cafeteria at the place where I worked/lived (and apparently /ate). And then... 4 years of someone else buying groceries for everyone in the house. Sigh. I thought I would miss those days.

Who knows? There are thousands of amazing cafes for me to discover in this city, so I might shortly fall off the home-lunch band-wagon. But for today there is Mexican Turkey:

1 Hard Mexican roll (bolillo-esque, but that's not what they called it at the grocery)
Some Turkey breast (I get it sliced so thin that it starts shredding)
A Buttload of Spinach
Lots of Brown Mustard
Slivers of White Onion
2 slices of El Trigal Manchego (thickly sliced, rind on)

Accompanying: kalamata olives and a slice of seedless watermelon (did you know it's getting very difficult to find watermelon WITH seeds?) With a lunch like this, who needs a siesta?





(Actually, I'd still like the siesta...)

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