Stockpile

Items currently in my purse awaiting a day of snacking at work: 

Dried apricots and dried mango

Pint of blueberries

Container of sliced watermelon

Healthy Valley Organic Granola Bar (they use cane sugar and whole grains)

BLT made from arugula, tomato, Proscuitto di Parma, whole-wheat wrap

As a side note completely unrelated to food, I do not understand why when I hold the big, heavy doors on the back exit of the bus people walk out without taking the doors.  I'm not standing there so that everyone can get off the bus; I'm waiting for someone else to take the doors and then pass it to the person behind them, etc.  I was not hired by the MTA to stand outside every designated bus stop in New York City to make sure the passengers get off safely.  That would be a cool job, but it's not mine. 

The doors are heavy and they need to be held open and I would be a giant loser if I just let the door smash into the person behind me, which is sometimes what I feel like doing.  That being said, what kind of person sees a tiny and overloaded woman standing on the street holding the bus door open and doesn't think, "Oh, I should probably take the door from her"?  

Sometimes New Yorkers aren't as bad as people say.  Other times they are far, far worse.  

The Best Sandwich In The World

Is the BLT.  I don't care what anyone says; sandwiches do not get any better than this. 

I made my own "healthier" version last night.  It goes something like this: 

Warmed whole-wheat tortilla

The best tomatoes I could find, given the season

Arugula

Proscuitto di Parma

Olive-oil mayonnaise

Easiest.  Meal.  Ever.  Warm tortilla.  Spread one tablespoon of mayo on said tortilla.  Lay down arugula, sliced tomatoes, and one to two ounces good proscuitto.  Roll and eat.  

It really doesn't get any easier--or simpler--than this. 

Quick Fix

I was running around like a crazy person yesterday, trying to do all the things I hadn't done while out in Arizona.  I didn't have time to do a whole elaborate dinner for myself, so I improvised with things I found at the market.  I had about ten minutes to spare at the vegetable stand, where I bought things that inspired me: a carton of persimmons, a Texas scallion (looks like a cross between an onion and a scallion, with a large white bulb at the end), a few kirby cucumbers, a jalapeno, a red pepper, Boston lettuce, and some cilantro.  Large shrimp at the fish market actually lived up to their name, so I took home a quarter pound, plenty of shrimp for one person to stretch over the course of two days.  

I assembled the framework for my dinner in the afternoon.  It took less than 20 minutes, proof that even the most time-pressed career person can get a home-cooked meal on the table.  I poached the shrimp in boiling water until they turned pink (roughly five minutes).  In the meantime, I chopped my purchased veggies, with the exception of the lettuce and with the addition of some celery I found hanging out in my vegetable compartment. 

Cooked shrimp was drained and cut into thirds.  I added it to the container housing my chopped vegetables.  Next, some canned pineapple--minus the juice--two heaping tablespoons of light sour cream (more than enough, trust me), one tablespoon of sriracha, some kosher salt and, of course, fresh ground pepper.  When I came home from the gym later at night, I picked some lettuce leaves and rolled the creamy mixture up into it, using the lettuce like a wrap.  Actually, iceberg would have worked a little better, but I really hate the watery taste of iceberg lettuce, with one notable exception: as lining for a good old traditional BLT. 

Really, the greatest thing about doing something like this for dinner (apart from the convenience factor) is that it's the easiest possible way to integrate a wide variety of vegetables into one's dinner.  And really, you could sub in or out any fruit or veg.  Grapefruit could have easily replaced the persimmon.  Red cabbage could have provided color instead of red pepper (I grew up surrounded by pepper-haters).  Shredded carrot would have offered a beta-carotene kick.  

So there you have it: dinner for one very busy individual, done quickly and healthily.  And did I mention that the final product was creamy, spicy, crunchy, and completely delicious?  Or maybe that goes without saying.