Ahhh...Lunch at Home...

Ahhh!!!!  Lunch at home on a weekend!  And my favorite of all - Tuna Melts!

My family will all confirm that one of the weeknight routines that I hate the most is packing lunch.  It is just one more thing to do at night, after dinner, when you are tired...and...really - how many choices do you have when packing a teacher's lunch that has to be scarfed down in about 25 minutes - less if you have to make a bathroom stop!

That is why I so enjoy a nice leisurely lunch at home on my days off.  Last Saturday I made us some skinnied-up tuna melts with my husband's current favorite salad.

Skinny-er Tuna Melts with Pear-Pomegranite Salad

This is comfort food at its best for me.  My love affair with melted sandwiches began when my mother used to make tomato and cheese melts in the toaster oven when we were little.  When we moved to Hawaii I discovered a tuna sandwich with avocado at a little sandwich shop near our house and-lightbulb!- my current version of the old comfort food sandwich was born.

For this skinny-er version I use one small can of water packed tuna,  lots (probably 1/4 cup of each) of veggies - peppers and onions - and about 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp fat free Greek yogurt instead of mayo.  A couple generous grinds of ground pepper and a quick shake of salt and the tuna salad is done.  

Getting ready for the final touch - cheddar cheese!

Take a slice of a nice hearty whole grain bread.  Add a couple thick slices of ripe tomato, a quarter of an avocado thinly sliced, half of the tuna salad and top it with a slice of extra sharp cheddar cheese.  I have been using the thin slices to cut calories and not flavor.  You can use low fat or no fat but...why?  You swapped out the mayo so go for the good cheese!

All ready for the oven

Pop the whole pile of deliciousness into the toaster oven and heat until the cheese just melts.  Slice, plate it with the salad and you are ready for some real lunch comfort. 

Pear-Pomegranate Salad Topped with Toasted Pecans
Top it with a balsamic vinaigrette

 I'm already thinking about the lunch I won't have to pack this weekend...

 I'm looking for ideas for packed lunches that a healthy but not so "been there done that."  

Ideas? 

 Leave a comment and let me know what you are packing that's good.

Roasted Chili Verde with Pork and Rice

 Roasted Chili Verde with Pork and Rice was on the menu for Monday night and it was delicious! It was from my fave Cooking Light this month (Oct 2012)

Roasted Chili Verde with Pork and Rice

I rushed home from work to get it going because, although the actual hands-on time for this dish is not too bad, but takes a bit of planning to pull it off because it has to cook for at least an hour to make sure that the pork gets nice and tender.  The pay-off is so worth it!  

The first step was to peel the papery covering off and roast some tomatillos.


Aren't these cool?  They have kind of a sticky film underneath the husk.

Getting tomatillos ready for the oven

After broiling for 15 minutes

The raw ingredients for the salsa

After you roast the tomatillos, you take them for a spin in the food processor with some onion, sugar, garlic and jalapeño pepper.

This is the point where you wish this blog had smell-a-vision!  It smelled A-MAZ-ING!

While the tomatillos are broiling, I was browning some cubes of boneless pork shoulder.  And then it all went together into a pot to simmer for an hour or until the pork is fork tender. 

Now you have a pocket of time to run downstairs for a quick workout so that you have calories left to eat this deliciousness.  (Yes - I actually did do this!)

With about 20 minutes left in the pork cooking time, you throw some onion and rice in a pan with a touch of oil.  Add a can of mild chili-flavored tomatoes and some water and let it simmer by itself.  Plate it up... and...

Deeeelicious!  

I served it up with a simple salad of navel oranges and avocados.

My only regret...I should have made a double batch and frozen some for later! Oh well, next time - and there will be a next time!

Roasted Chili Verde with Pork and Rice

1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husks and stems removed

1 cup chopped onion, divided

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1 tsp sugar

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, chopped

2 Tbsp canola oil, divided

1 poud boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 cup uncooked long-grain rice

1 (10 ounce) can mild diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained

1 cup water

1 jalapeño pepper, sliced (optional)

Cilantro leaves (optional)

1.  Preheat broiler to high.

2.  Place tomatillos on a baking sheet or jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray.  Broil 8 inches from broiler for 15 minutes or until skins blacken and tomatillos are soft.

3.  Place tomatillos, pan juices, 3/4 cup onion, and next 4 ingredients (through chopped jalapeño) in a blender or a food processor; process until sauce is almost smooth.

4.  Heat a Dutch oven over med-high heat.  Add 1 Tbsp oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Sprinkle pork evenly with 1/4 tsp salt and black pepper (I forgot this step so I threw it into the pan as the pork was sautéing - oops!)  Add pork to pan.  Sauté 6 minutes, turning to brown on all sides, Add tomatillo mixture to pan; bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour or until pork is very tender, stirring occasionally (It took mine about an hour and 20 minutes - I like it very tender.)

5.  Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add remaining 1/4 cup onion; saute 2 minutes or until soft.  Add rice; sauté 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add remaining 1/4 tsp salt, tomatoes, and 1 cup water to pan; bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid evaporates and rice is tender; do not stir. (Shhh...Don't tell...I stirred.)  Divide rice among 4 plates.  Top with pork mixture; garnish with sliced jalapeño and cilantro leaves, if desired.