Brown Bag it!

Bring Your Lunch to Work

By MARK BITTMAN

There are few brown-baggers in the building where I work. This is not because the food in the neighborhood is so great (it isn’t), or because the cafeteria is Google-like (it isn’t), but because many people are either “too busy” or too embarrassed to bring their lunch. Somehow one of our oldest and sanest traditions has become a laughingstock: it’s not hip to bring lunch.

      

Let’s try to fix that.

      

As a meal, lunch is undeniably tough; most people say that and I recognize it. But something good happens when you make the default a brown bag.

      

I am not talking literally about brown bags; you can bring your groovy REI lunchbox, or your authentic Mumbai tiffin carrier (actually, where I work, the people who seem to bring their lunch most often are of South Asian origin) or — as I tend to do — your assortment of recycled takeout containers.

      

Whatever you pack it in, what happens when you bring your lunch is that you start to see it as primary, and the restaurants and fast-food joints and company cafeterias as backups, rather than the other way around.

      

It’s no major feat, of course, to develop a ham-and-Swiss-on-rye habit and accompany it with a salad and a piece of fruit, in that way producing a lunch that’s cheaper and no doubt of higher quality than almost anything you’re able to buy in your neighborhood. Still, few people seem to do that these days, at least in my circles.

      

More often (this is an observation, not a study), those who bring their lunches are going one of three routes:

      

Carrots, celery sticks, apples, a tomato, a banana. Basically a few things they can grab in two seconds and eat without guilt.

      

Leftovers. This is obviously the simplest route and, because almost every workplace has a microwave now, an extremely practical and often savory one. To make this work, you may have to hold back at dinner, or cook more than you’re used to, without eating more.

Then there is the creative assortment that may require last-minute assembly at work. Again, the microwave helps here.

      

My strategy is to try to have all of these things working for me. I’m not above bringing leftover pasta, or stews, or other things that are easy to reheat. I do resort to the grab-and-go style of raw food at least once a week. And I often try (I really do) to pack a few components separately and then ready them for microwaving at lunchtime.

      

The key, as in so much good eating, is having a well-stocked pantry. I’m talking here not only about olive oil and vinegar and soy sauce, the kinds of things that every cook has. And I’m talking not only about tuna and sardines and maybe bread and tomatoes, the staples of many brown-baggers.

I’m also talking about building blocks, like tomato sauce, a pot of beans (or grains, equally valuable), a pan of roasted vegetables, perhaps even a roast chicken. These are the kinds of elements that you can put together while you’re doing something else — whether cooking a meal or watching a football game or catching up on e-mail — and that will last all week, adding substance, flavor and real appeal to whatever else you have lying around. Get that kind of thing going, and you’ll be overwhelmed not by the challenges of putting together a decent lunch before you leave the house but by the possibilities.

      

There’s at least one other decidedly easy way to add character to even the most mundane dishes. That involves creating a fresh sauce of the type that takes little or no cooking (I’ve provided five no-cook types here) and keeps for a few days. You can think of a vinaigrette as the prototype here, but even the kinds of things we might once have thought of as exotic — soy-ginger dipping sauce! — are quickly put together using now-common ingredients.

      

Planned leftovers, as opposed to random ones, can make a huge difference. What you can do with a few pieces of cooked chicken or steak, a couple of fish fillets, even a pile of cooked vegetables is nothing short of creating another meal. And there is almost nothing that won’t sleep soundly in the refrigerator, with little or no loss in quality, from any given Sunday until the following Friday.

This is, of course, a strategy built on cooking: you can’t have leftovers or a container of roasted vegetables unless you cook. And in a way, the intent to bring lunch can help turn you into a cook who’s more efficient, less wasteful and ultimately less recipe-dependent. Because the lunch thing really isn’t about cooking, but assembling.

      

If you have beans, grains, greens — cooked and raw (but washed, of course) — cooked and raw vegetables, a sauce or two (including, at least sometimes, tomato sauce, which can turn almost anything into a soup or stew with just the addition of water), plus the staples you normally have in your pantry and then a leftover or two, lunch becomes a snap.

      

And as it becomes ritualized, the process becomes both more pleasurable (you could have a favorite bowl at work to make it even more so, and real silverware and napkins) and more rewarding. Monotony becomes a thing of the past, as does the dread of figuring out where and what to eat: You have taken control. Let the others laugh.

 

THREE KEY RECIPES

 

Basic Tomato Sauce

Put three tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or butter in a 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot or the butter is melted, add one chopped onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, two to three minutes. (Or alternatively, use three or four smashed cloves garlic and a dried chile or two; cook until the garlic has browned a bit.) Add four cups fresh or canned chopped tomatoes and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally over lively heat until the tomatoes break down and the mixture becomes saucy, 10 to 15 minutes. Basil or parsley at the last minute never hurts. It stores in the fridge for up to a week. Makes four servings.

      

Roasted Vegetables

Heat the oven to 425 degrees while you prepare around two pounds of varied vegetables: root vegetables, squash, eggplant, fennel, celery and so on. Peel, stem, seed, chop or cube as needed; it’s good if pieces are all about the same size. Put 1/4 cup oil in the bottom of a roasting pan and toss the vegetables with it and a lot of salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables, shaking the pan occasionally, until they are tender and beginning to brown, anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on the type of vegetable. If they are browning too fast, lower the temperature a bit. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Store in covered containers and reheat before eating. Makes four servings.

      

A Well-Seasoned Pot of Beans

Put one pound washed beans (black, for example) in a large pot with water to cover. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Add two bay leaves and two crushed garlic cloves, along with two tablespoons cumin or chile powder and a few sprigs of thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme). Cover loosely and adjust the heat so the beans simmer. When the beans begin to soften, season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are very tender, at least one hour; add more water if necessary. Add two cloves minced garlic to the pot along with one minced onion. Cook 5 to 10 minutes longer (until the edge is off the garlic) and season with more salt, pepper and cumin or chile powder. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Store in a sealed plastic bag or container. Makes up to eight servings.

      

FIVE NO-COOK SAUCES

 

Basic Vinaigrette

You have to decide whether you like 50 percent vinegar, 30 percent or more like 25 percent. Experiment. But start with 1/2 cup good olive oil, 1/4 cup lemon juice or sherry (or other) vinegar, a minced shallot and some salt and pepper. If you use a blender, the emulsion will hold for days.

      

Sesame Dipping Sauce

Whisk together two tablespoons dark sesame oil, two tablespoons peanut oil, one tablespoon minced onion or shallot or a little garlic, two tablespoons soy sauce and, if you like, one tablespoon sesame seeds or finely chopped peanuts. Cilantro is a good garnish.

      

Tahini Sauce

Combine 1/2 cup tahini with some of its oil, 1/2 cup water, the juice of one lemon, one peeled garlic clove, salt, pepper and 1/2 teaspoon cumin in a food processor; process until smooth. Or whisk the ingredients in a bowl (mince the garlic first). Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more lemon juice, oil, water or garlic as needed.

      

Pico de Gallo

Combine 1 1/2 cup chopped fresh tomatoes, 1/2 large chopped white onion or three or four scallions, one teaspoon minced garlic, minced fresh chile (jalapeño, Thai or habanero) to taste, 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley leaves and two tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice or one tablespoon red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste and let sit to allow the flavors to develop.

      

Raw Onion Chutney

Finely chop two small to medium or one large white onion and combine with one teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon coarsely cracked black peppercorns, 1/4 cup red wine (or distilled white) vinegar and one teaspoon paprika. Let sit for an hour. Stir in cayenne to taste, then taste and adjust seasoning.