Working from home can be kind of weird. You're at home and have access to all the same stuff you'll have access to for dinner - pots, pans, ingredients, meats, oils, butter, spices - but yet actually cooking a full-on lunch seems ludicrous most days. Opening a can of something and splatting it into a bowl is pretty seriously involved on most weekdays. This dish is my answer to that. I've been meaning to throw together a how-to on my favorite slap-it-together lunch and today I have. Only... of course, as always happens, I was way hungry and just scrambled through it and my pictures *blow*. Oh well, I get the point across. You can deal. Here's what we're making: tuna and white bean salad on a bed of arugula (if it's on a bed it's fancy schmancy, right?)
You'll need:
- A can of white beans
- A can of tuna
- Green onions
- Olive oil (the good stuff, if you have it)
- A lemon
- Salt and pepper
- Anchovies (optional - just one or two)
I buy all this crap at Trader Joe's because I freakin' love Trader Joe's and compulsively shop there. Also, they have really good really cheap wine, which I do not suggest starting on at 1pm on a workday.
Okay, this is where I might lose you. But if you didn't want that anchovy in your salad, you don't need this step away. But I suggest you try the anchovy. It doesn't make the salad taste fishy (the tuna will do that fine) - it just gives it a depth. Anyway, get out your fuckin' mortar and pestle and grind that little baby fish (or two) up. Then squeeze in half a lemon and a whole bunch of olive oil. Don't be shy, you're eating arugula with this.
The protein in the anchovy and the acid in the lemon will make the emulsification easy - just pestle it on up - see?
Cut up the green onion and throw that can of tuna and the beans, drained, into your big tupperware.
Then pour the whole thing from the mortar and pestle into the container. Put on the lid and shake it around. Taste - it might need more salt, pepper, lemon.
And if you're being good, you'll let it rest a good half hour in the fridge. If you're anything like me, you'll get impatient and plow through half your lunch while you're typing up a post about it. Anyway, put a whole mess of arugula (or whatever green you like) in a bowl - no dressing needed. Then add on a whole bunch of your tuna and bean salad. And then eat it. It's really filling and makes two servings so you can - again, if you're anything like me - scarf down the rest around 3pm.
What the heck do y'all entrepreneurs eat?
Sooooo there was this cheese. 
Oh, that huge cake-like slice cut out of it? That's the part I had consumed about a month after receiving the block. At this rate, I estimate it will take me near two years to finish the cheese, accounting for vacations and getting tired of it and such. In the meantime, isn't it kinda gross?! You can see where they drilled in to put the mold in. Fascinating! Ah, cheese. It is one of life's supreme pleasures.
Neither did I take any along-the-way photos, so here's what they looked like pre-melting:
So without further ado, Chiles Rellenos Amber style:
You'll need: