Winter Root Comfort Lunch

Photo by Irene Kredenets on Unsplash

I stumbled upon this lunch combo. I started by making this soup as a side one night for dinner. It makes a TON, so make some and then share with a friend. They will thank you! It’s not that hard to make, it’s healthy and is the perfect winter soup! Then I made a new tuna recipe. Yes, I have a thing for tuna recipes! I have written about tuna before AND ironically, that was an Ina Garten recipe even. I feel like this is déja vu, but I promise, this recipe will be worth a repeat of a tuna VARIATION!!! What happened was that Costco had a sale on Portofino tuna and I HAD to try it because of the name. I am becoming obsessed with the Mediterranean!!

I was making the tuna for lunch that week. I had picked up this lunch cookbook at a used bookstore. It’s Cooking Light which is usually pretty good for a mix of the healthy and flavor. I thought I would try this variation on a French way of making tuna. I hit the flavor jackpot in my humble opinion. This one has chopped Greek olives which just really kicked up the sapidity of the mixture! Also, no mayo and just a hint of olive oil with a few ingredients which is the Mediterranean way, apparently. My family liked it too. My daughter had it on Hawaiian roles and loved it. I had it on this whole wheat crusty loaf from our grocery store, and it was perfect. My husband took three tries before he loved it. He said the tomato made the sandwich soggy on sourdough bread and crackers didn’t do it for him. The third try was on a Panera asiago cheese bagel! He said at that point, he caught the flavor vision! So, you might have to experiment with your bread, although, of course, if you live overseas, your options might be more limited. I will say, it needs a hearty bread, whatever you put it on. I made it on a Monday morning, meaning it was not hard to make, another plus.

All week, I felt like I was staying at a bed and breakfast or having the kind of lunch you might eat at an historic hotel. I ate my soup and sandwich and watched the birds scratching around in my husband’s winter flower garden. It comforted me and made me hopeful. This year I am trying to cultivate some things in my life by slowing down and this was for sure a contribution to that principle. I am helped by seeing the cycles of death and resurrection in God’s world, and it makes me hopeful when I see that in other places. Just what a winter comfort lunch should add to your life!

From Make It Ahead by Ina Garten