Indoor Lunch

Although I have leftovers of shrimp fried rice and pescetarian delight, I was not really in the mood for any of it. Luckily (or unluckily if you consider the options) we had a women's initiative lunch at work. Yipee free lunch! When I first started working, free lunch was a given along with snack breaks, breakfasts, etc. In light of the economy, these free dining opportunities are now few and far between.

 

At 12:30 today the women attorneys gathered to eat and learn more about building mentoring relationships we need to succeed. So aside from my food adventures I'm being encouraged to do more about developing my networking relationships. So if any of you or someone you know needs a white collar lawyer or would like more information about various ways that lawyers can help you, I'm here!

 

Anyway, back to food! Two salads, two chickens and one pasta. Of course they also had dessert and fruit trays!

 

Of the two salads, I only tried the Caesar salad. Most of the lettuce was fresh although there were a few wilted pieces. Yucky!  The garden salad looked good, but there's only so much green I can be expected to eat in one sitting.

 

When I first went past the trays, I was not impressed by the creamy chickens. How could they smother both chicken dishes in whiteness?!  Ugh the nerve. Thanks to this blog, I had no choice but to taste both.  People who know my eating preferences are aware of my aversion to whiteness and creaminess, namely because I'm a visual eater and that stuff usually looks gross (look at the pictures below and judge for yourself).  For those of you know don't know, among the long list of white creaminess that I have never eaten alfredo and sour cream are the two that show up the most but I always turn down.  Maybe some day...

 

I'm happy to report that the chicken excursion turned out a lot better than I initially expected.  First up, Lemon Herb Grilled Chicken with Lemon Oregano Cream Sauce served with Grilled Vegetables (first picture below).  Much to my surprise, the cream sauce did not taste like cream!  Instead, it tasted like tangy lemon.  Considering it was room temperature, the chicken was still appetizing enough.

 

Now, the Herb Grilled Chicken with Mushroom Truffle Leek Sauce served with Grilled Vegetables (above bottom) was surprisingly satisfying.  I only had a couple of small bites but the sauce combined with the chicken was sweet but hearty.  It was almost like eating dessert but in a non-cavity causing way.  Hats off to the chef and sincerest apologies for doubting the possibility of cream sauce.

 

While I don't think I will be ordering cream sauce at any restaurants or even making it in my kitchen, I am pleased that I tried something new and was able to share that with you.

The best part of the meal, IMHO was the Farfalle Pasta with Sundried Tomato Pesto and Broccoli.  I really do love pasta and red sauce still beats white.  Even at room temperature, the pasta was heavenly!

 

Of course main course is all good, but the dessert and fruit platters were up to snuff as well.  I sampled the papaya, mango, grapes, pineapple and strawberries.  I also had a delicious chocolate chocolate chip cookie.  

While the meal was satisfying, I'm definitely looking forward to a more protein heavy dinner, though those leftovers may just have to do.  I'm thinking salmon and potatoes tomorrow...stay tuned!