my fast food

Hico, Texas, where I grew up, was a one restaurant town. We had no red light...not even a movie theater. The only restaurant, the Koffee Kup Kafe was home to daily hot plate lunch specials, chicken fried steaks as big as your face, hand dipped deep fried onion rings and freshly baked pies topped with mile-high meringue sculpted like the hairdos of the waitresses. This is the stuff I grew up on. As a result, I never developed a taste for typical fast food fare. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of weaknesses. They generally involve butter, white flour and refined sugar. It's just fast food I don't have much use for. But I do think food can be fast and good.

Here is my grown up version of what I think fast healthy food should be. I call it the Layered Lunch and here is the first of endless variations that I will bring to you.

This version consists of rinsed black eyed peas from a can, brown rice, chopped celery and leftover roasted cherry tomatoes. Layer it like sand art and pour some delicious vinegar over the top.

This nifty container is from The Container Store, where I have a part time job. You can order it online if you're not lucky enough to have a store in your town.