Laptop Lunches #157

Yellow tomatoes and cucumbers with basil vinaigrette (recipe below), a fresh fig, rellenos de papa with spiked ketchup for dipping, blackberries, and a chocolate peanut butter-salted caramel truffle.

Rellenos de papa are a Mexican dumpling-type thing of a potato shell surrounding seasoned ground meat. They go nicely, in my opinion, with some ketchup spiked with cayenne, chili powder, and a sprinkling of black pepper. They do not, however, unlike most of what I bring along with me, taste even remotely okay at room temperature, so I had to seek out a microwave. Be forewarned.

The salad dressing is easy and quick, and nice on things like tomatoes. Make your life easier and use the frozen basil if you don't have any growing around you (I don't right now, and frozen herbs work just fine).

Basil Vinaigrette
Serves: 2

2 teaspoons finely chopped basil leaves
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar (regular will work, but it will stain your salad)
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Mix all ingredients well. Pour over salad. I recommend tomatoes, cucumbers, or quickly blanched or steamed hearty green veggies like broccoli or green beans.