Just Regular Lunch

One of the greatest things about cooking is that there is always a treat for you in the end. Whether its the first warm chocolate chip cookie that you sneak away, a tiny piece off the roasted chicken leg thats just dripping with herb and butter goodness, or the surprising lunch that you flipped from predictable to amazing with just one ingredient.

Great victories, like the roasted chicken, are in fact by definition, great. They will fill up your memory bank and be passed down generations. But what about the everyday activities that seem to boost your confidence while feeding your belly? I believe that those are the moments that make us who we are in order to achieve the great victories. Never think of your everyday lunch or breakfast the same; think of them as training sessions for the big game (ex: dinner party, grilling gathering, dare I say it, Thanksgiving).

Here's my little victory of the day:

Last night I made vegetarian burritos. Budget has been tight lately so it was a minimalist kind of dinner (I hope I made Mark Bittman proud). I sautéed yellow peppers and onions with cilantro, garlic, cayenne pepper, and s&p (salt and pepper for future reference). I steamed some basmati rice as well. The burritos were assembled with rice, sautéed vegetables, black beans, avocado, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. Here's the interesting part about the cheese. I didn't buy any for the burritos, but I had some string cheese (which is mozzarella) in the fridge, so I grated it and put it on top of the warm rice. Seriously, one of the best mistakes I have ever made. I baked some of the tortilla with olive oil and sea salt and had chips to go with my delicious burrito.

Now onto today's victory, I promise. My boyfriend came home for lunch, and we had about 20 minutes together (it's our 3 and a half year anniversary today...aww..that's us in the picture). Instead of the usual turkey sandwich, we made wraps with the leftover tortillas. Nothing new, has been done before. His wrap was smoked turkey breast, freshly shredded white cheddar, and BBQ sauce, all melted in the microwave. I added Romaine lettuce for some crunch. He will eat anything with BBQ on it, so why not stuff it with extra veggies for my dear carnivore.

I've been craving sushi, I mentioned the budget issue earlier, right? So this is where the avocado came to play. I put together the same smoked turkey breast, same cheese, cucumber slices, avocado, and romaine in the tortilla wrap. The end product? Delicious! Turkey and avocado go so well together. I was surprised by the white cheddar and cucumber combination! If this was dressed up a little, it would definitely fit on a California deli menu. Best part of this, it really didn't need dressing of any kind. The cucumber and avocado keep everything together and the smoked turkey and cheddar are great boosts of flavor. Therefore, this is great for your body as well.

It's a foggy, rainy day here in Michigan, but I just went to my kitchen and had lunch in San Francisco : ) And that is the best victory of my day.

Pleasant eating everyone!