“What’s for Lunch?” Pasta and Salad!

Long gone are the days when eating healthy (and eating vegetarian) meant eating raw celery and drinking a glass of water.  Today’s ProfHacker column provides two easy vegetarian lunch options that move us far beyond the boring lunches of old:  Tomato Salad and Pesto Pasta.

Today’s recipes contain many of the same ingredients, so you can make both at the same time, freeze or store what you do not use immediately, then you have almost-ready lunches for another time.

Pesto Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup Basil Pesto (recipe follows)
• 1/2 chopped purple onion
• 3 large chopped tomatoes
• 1 chopped green bell pepper
• Pasta

Directions:
Combine ingredients and toss with pasta (angel hair works nicely).

Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh basil
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1/3 cup walnuts / pine nuts
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Combine all of these ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend at high speed until all of the ingredients are chopped and mixed. This will make three cups of pesto.

 

Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 large vine-ripened tomatoes, each cut into 4 thick slices
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup Herb Vinaigrette, recipe follows
• 12 (1/8-inch thick) slices red onion, or sweet onions
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Directions:
Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and season on both sides with the salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of the herb vinaigrette and toss lightly to coat.  Place one tomato slice on a plate then top with one onion slice.  Repeat layers ending with onion on top.  Crumble 2 tablespoons of the cheese on top of each stack, drizzle with the vinaigrette, and serve immediately.   If you aren’t a fan of onions, it’s easy enough to exclude them and have the tomatoes and herb vinaigrette salad.

Herb Vinaigrette:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh orange juice
• 3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 3/4 teaspoon fresh grapefruit juice
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped assorted herbs, including thyme, parsley, chives and basil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Combine the vinegar, and orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit juices in a medium bowl and whisk together. Add the vegetable and olive oils in a slow stream, whisking constantly to form an emulsion. Add the herbs, salt, and pepper, and whisk well to incorporate.  Makes 1 1/4 cups.

Making lunches ahead of time, lunches that contain many of the same ingredients, can save you time and money.  What kinds of food/lunch products do you prepare ahead of time, products that share many of the same ingredients?  Please leave suggestions in comments below.

[Image by Flickr user gezellig-girl. Used under Creative Commons license.]