Lunch Goals: Asian theme

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Well now that it’s the start of a new year, I thought it would be a good time to share another lunch plan (not to mention I’m back at work this week and could use tasty lunches to get motivated). Ever since the last book club, Asian flavors like sesame and soy have been on my mind.  The edamame salad I made last week was proof of that.  Not surprisingly, I’m going with an Asian-themed lunch, including that salad.

The menu for this Lunch Goals is Edamame Salad, Chinese BBQ pork, Yakisoba Noodle Salad (recipe below) and potstickers. Both of the dressings for the salads are made of similar components, which makes preparing all of this a cinch.  I love BBQ pork so I took this opportunity to find a recipe online make it at home. You can also just buy it at your local grocery store, though.  I love the flavor of BBQ pork and all of the protein it provides without too much fat.  Another food I often have on hand is potstickers.  We buy the big bag of Ling Ling brand at Costco and keep them in the freezer.  They can be cooked in less than 20 minutes, I’ll make a big batch at the beginning of the week sometimes and bring them for lunch.

Ok, let’s get to the plan!

I’m going to walk you through the steps, assuming you are using store-bought BBQ pork and potstickers. Start by cooking your edamame.  You’ll want to do this first so that it can cool for you to make the salad. Follow the instructions on the package.  As I mentioned in the salad post, try to find edamame that has already been shelled.

Now onto the potstickers. There are usually several cooking methods provided on the bag, but I like the one-pan method.  Typically, it involves cooking the frozen potstickers in a nonstick pan to brown and then covering with water.  Then you cover the pan with a lid and let cook until the water has evaporated.  Just make sure to double-check the instructions on whatever brand you buy.

Your edamame should be done and ready to drain. Let that cool while you make the dressings for the edamame and yakisoba salads.  Chop the shallot for the edamame salad.  Then get out two small bowls or jars to make the dressings.  Put the sesame oil, soy sauce, honey and Sriracha in one for the noodle salad.  The Sriracha is a hot sauce you should be able to find in the Asian section of your local grocery store, or at an Asian store, like H Mart or Uwajimaya.  A lot of people call it “Rooster Sauce” because of the logo on the bottle. I don’t like a lot of spice so I didn’t add much, you can certainly add more to your taste.

 

Now in the other bowl put the lemon juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, honey and rice wine vinegar for the edamame salad.  Mix that together and add the chopped shallot.

Once the potstickers are done, you can set them aside to cool. Now you’ll put together the salads.  If you need to shell your edamame, do that first.  Then you’ll put the shelled edamame in a medium bowl (or straight into the container you plan to store it in).  Mix the dressing once more and pour over the edamame.  Stir it all together until the edamame is coated in the dressing.  That’s done!

Now you’ll finish up the Yakisoba Salad.  You should be able to find these noodles in the Asian section of your grocery store or again at an Asian market.  If you can find fresh noodles that are already cooked, it’ll save you some time.  Now put the noodles in a medium bowl (or again, the container you’ll be storing the salad in).  Give the dressing a good stir to blend it and pour it over the noodles.  Toss the noodles and the dressing with a fork.  That’s done!

Now all that’s left is to slice up your BBQ Pork if (it’s not already).

There are several packaging options depending on the logistics of your lunch location. 🙂  I usually bring a little bit of everything in several Tupperware containers, but if you have access to a lot of fridge space you could certainly bring it all into work at the beginning of the week and serve it up each day (fair warning, though, your coworkers are going to ask for some!).

One of the other great things about this lunch combo is that most of it can be eaten cold.  You could probably eat the potstickers cold, but I recommend reheating them for a minute or so if you can.

You’re all set!  Enjoy your lunch!

I’d love to hear about your favorite lunch options!