Monbento Square #47 (Double Tier)

 

You may recall, as you saw my dumplings on Friday, that I was earmarking my bread for a sandwich. Well, here's the meal I'd planned! I have here a curried chickpea salad sandwich (for which I sort of followed this recipe from Jessica in the Kitchen) and a raid-the-fridge salad I will describe below.

The original recipe for the curried chickpea salad involves raisins; I am not an eater of raisins, so I left those out. But I had and used the other ingredients, including a bit of fresh parsley from my window plant. I scaled the recipe down to accommodate the half-a-can of chickpeas I had, and that meant I got two sandwiches out of it, this one and one you haven't seen. I really enjoyed this! I love all sorts of chickpea salad sandwiches, and this one did not disappoint.

Usually, if I make a salad just winging it, especially with romaine, I have tomato and cucumber, but I was out of both. This is, however, a low spend month, so I just went with my instincts. Here, we have romaine lettuce, shredded carrot, blanched broccoli, red bell pepper, red onion, and some chopped baby corn. There is also a little cup of peppery French fried onions (for crunch) and some homemade vegan ranch.

This was a delicious salad! It may not be the best combo with a curry-flavored thing, but in such moments, one eats one's lunch in courses. What's good about this salad, among other things, is that it has a lot of colors. I have long ago learned not to eat straight up raw broccoli, but lightly blanched and shocked in cold water, broccoli makes for a great salad ingredient. I didn't miss the tomato and cucumber here. I dug deep, mustered my resources, and gave myself a good meal, in spite of my miserliness.

Thanks for reading along and encouraging me in this challenging season! It means a lot to me to have that. Let's see what I come up with tomorrow.