Home-made takeout event.

Lindy is hosting this event. I think that´s a great idea, because I´m quite fascinated by the whole wide spectrum of lunchboxes around the world.
I don´t pack lunches for myself, since I work from home, and mostly every day go to my mother´s for lunch. But since J has a long horribly trafficky conmute to Toledo, when he goes there I make him lunch to go.
In this way I assuage my guilt. Not that it´s my fault, but it feels very unfair that I take my lunch among the crazy babble of a family table, and then have coffee and a nap on a sofa, with a jack russell on my lap, and a labrador at my feet.
And since he always says that he lives in Madrid because of me, I do feel slightly bad. J´s fond dream would be to be the pharmacist in a small mountaintop village, and play mus every evening with the priest, the head of the Guardia Civil, and the mayor. Never mind that for that he´d have to move to the 1960´s, he sticks to his fantasy, and so I try to make up for it with lunchboxes.
Also because J, left to himself, would have fried eggs with chorizo at the university canteen every day, and that would never do.
The lunchbox itself is the Nomad model from Valira. It´s really great. It´s insulated, and holds two containers that close hermetically, so you don´t have to worry about sauce spilling everywhere. And there´s still room for a yogurt or some fruit, too.
It´s impossible to predict what will find its way to the lunchbox. Usually it´s whatever we had for dinner the day before, or else a sandwich. But I also like to have single portions of frozen dishes cooked at other times. Curry, or pisto, or noodles. They may not taste as good as they did the first time around, but I think they can stand up to the uni cafeteria food, any day.
I also always put in a salad in the small container. The dressing goes into a little plastic ziploc bag, so the greens don´t become soggy.
Unless it´s for J´s favourite salad. I make this one a lot, since it´s made from frozen green beans, and they´re a pretty handy thing to have around in case there´s nothing fresh in the fridge.

Green bean salad

Steam a handful of french beans.
Then mix a couple of spoonfuls of your favourite vinaigrette with a squirt of lemon juice and a teaspoonful of mayonaise. You might want to chop some shallot, too, but probably not. It´s only a lunchbox, after all.
Add some whole cherry tomatoes, and let the flavours meld. The vinegar will make the beans lose their bright green, but the taste will more than make up for it.

This brings the health quota of the lunchbox up so high, that you can even slip in a cookie. Go on.