U of T is a bleak, foodless place. Wandering around at lunchtime desperately searching for nourishment is a disheartening effort. Do you dare brave The Trucks and all the greasy regret that follows consumption? Or pay $7 for a soggy, shrink-wrapped sandwich from Starbucks or Second Cup? Choosing what to eat without destroying either your waistline or your wallet can seem like an impossible task, as the available meal choices are limited at best. While the cafeterias, such as Burwash, can provide some relief from the drudgery of fast food, those are only viable options if you have a meal plan. For the rest of us, there is a selection of cafés that offer fresh, healthy, and palatable alternatives, such as Wymilwood, Diablos, and the Hot Yam (on Thursdays) to name a few. The best bet, however, resides in Tupperware: meals made at home and brought to school to be enjoyed with a healthy seasoning of schadenfreude while watching fellow students choke down the bile of convenient eating. Here we provide a guide for those up to the task of bringing their own meals to school.
There are three major drawbacks to bringing your own lunch: they sometimes spill, it can be tiring to carry around the containers, and all of your friends will try to “share” your meals with you. The brave souls we encountered had inventive solutions to these issues. Rubber bands and plastic bags are two lines of defence against leaky dishes. Collapsible containers and babushka-style sets are excellent space-saving techniques, but as for protecting your lunch from your envious friends: tell them to bring their own.
Some pop, some lock, some twist, others pour; there are as many varieties of container as there are possibilities for homemade lunches. We have taken the time to appreciate some of the meals and their receptacles, and interviewed the students who brought them for their insight on homemade lunch. Here is what we found.
Where did you get your Tupperware?
China
• “My container’s really good. I got it in China and it never spills. It locks, comes with this matching bag, and it all fits together.”—Chen, first-year Commerce
• “I got mine in Chinatown. It’s great, but you’ve got to be careful because the tin is really sharp. I love my thermos, it doesn’t leak!”—Fletcher, final year Computer Science
Japan
• “I went to Japan on exchange and everyone in Japan brought their lunch to work and school and their lunchboxes are so cute! But too small.”—Nicola, second-year Commerce
Korea
• “My boyfriend brought this back for me.”—Jessica, fourth-year Architecture and Environmental Policy
Online
• “Reuseablebags.com … there’s all sorts of reusable stuff on there, from reusable sandwich bags to plastic containers to cutlery.”—Yusuf, first-year
Mom
• “My mom has a whole cabinet full of them!”—Becky, third-year History and English
Why do you bring your lunch?
• “I think the food here is a bit iffy, I mean the Subway’s good but I can’t eat that every day. That’s why I pack a lunch, it’s cheaper also. I prepare two sets of my dinner and eat one the next day.”—Nicola
• “I don’t want to eat junk!”—Sharadha, fourth-year Neuroscience and Psychology
• “I like to know what I eat. And it’s cheaper.”—Victor, third-year History and Philosophy
• “I bring a lunch about three or four times a week to save money.”—Mike, fourth-year Geography
• “It’s too expensive to always buy lunch!”—Becky
Prep time?
• “It took me five minutes to make this morning.”—Becky
• “It took me about 10 minutes last night.”—Mike
• “My mom kind of helps … I either make it the night before or the morning depending on the dish. I usually bring a hot flask so I don’t have to microwave anything and my food stays warm.”—Sharadha
What did you have for lunch today?
Salad!
• “Salad with chicken, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, and cheese. I bring the dressing in its own separate Tupperware and mix it at school. I bring salads almost everyday, but usually with ham instead of chicken.”—Becky
• “Salad with eggs, celery, tomato, peppers, mushrooms, and olives, dressed in oil.”—Mike
• “Carrot salad with avocado, beets, broccoli, tofu, and toasted almonds. I made a ton of this salad three days ago and it’s still so good. Plus I didn’t have to do anything except heat up this bread I made two weeks ago and keep frozen.”—Sarah, fourth-year Spanish
Sandwich
• “Sandwich with a salad, some meat, babaganouch, and an orange. Sometimes I bring pasta or rice depending on what’s available and how much time I have in the morning.”—Victor
Stir-fry
• “I bring pasta or curry normally, but I have a sandwich today.”—Fletcher
Fried Rice
• “Fried rice with broccoli, ham, and egg. I made it with my dinner last night.”—Nicola
Leftovers
• “Leftover curry and carrot sticks.”—Nicky, third-year English
How would you change the eating conditions at U of T
• “We need more microwaves! The lines are getting longer, and one of them [at Robarts] isn’t even working.”—Magali, second-year Linguistics
• “The best microwave in school is that old one at Innis. It looks like it was built in the ’30s, but it’s pretty good.”—Mike
• “I want more variety of food options, especially Asian cuisine. The lunch trucks are too oily! That’s why I bring my own food.”—Jessica, fourth-year Fine Art History
Warnings?
• “Beet juice is such a problem. It turns everything bright pink. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I have a system of rubber bands and plastic bags in effect now.”—Sarah
• “I packed an amazing curry I had made the night before, Indian style with tumeric. The tumeric somehow got into my books, now bright orange and the smell’s still there.”—Mark, second-year Physics
Recipes: here are five easy recipes provided graciously by our expert lunchers to help you through the rest of the year.
Hummus (easier than you think!)
Ingredients
1 can chickpeas (about 1½ cups dried)
2 tbsp tahini
1 lemon squeezed
2 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
paprika, cayenne optional
1. Blend all ingredients in a food processor, continually scraping mixture off of sides to ensure smoothness.
2. Salt, lemon and tahini can be adjusted to taste. Add paprika and cayenne at the end if desired for added punch.
3. Serve with crudités, pita, on sandwiches, everything or straight.
Chickpea salad (nourishing and healthy)
Ingredients
1 can chickpeas
½ cucumber cut into chunky quarter rounds
1 tomato cubed
1 shallot minced
Handful of flat-leaf parsley coarsely chopped
Dressing: Olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste
1. Combine all ingredients, add dressing last. To avoid soggy mess, carry dressing separately and add immediately before eating.
Basic winter roasted veggies (a no-fail technique)
Ingredients
2-3 carrots cut into sticks
2 parsnips cut into coins or sticks
Russet or Fingerling potatoes, quartered
1 large white or red onion, or four shallots quartered and separated into chunks
1 Golden or red beet peeled and cubed
Olive oil to lightly coat ingredients
1 tsp. rosemary
Salt, pepper
1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Mix ingredients in a bowl, ensuring even mixing and that all vegetables are coated in oil.
3. Spread evenly on baking sheet, covering with tin foil.
4. Roast for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Do your reading.
5. Remove tinfoil and cook for 10 more minutes.
Carrot salad (for two meals)
Ingredients
4 big carrots, peeled and grated (in food processor if lazy)
1 tomato diced
½ cup of chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
1 avocado, cubed
2 tbsps. Goat cheese (or more to taste)
Dressing: Juice of ½ a lemon, 2-3 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper
1. Combine ingredients, then toss in dressing.
2. Keeps well in refrigerator for several days.
Easiest cranberry sauce (inexpensive and makes everything taste better)
Ingredients
1 bag of cranberries (1 lb)
2 cups sugar
½ cup water
½ cup orange juice
2 tsp grated orange rind
½ cup blanched and slivered almonds
1. Combine all ingredients except the almonds in a saucepan and cook until the cranberries pop open, about ten minutes.
2. Skim the foam from the surface (as best as you can with a spoon), add the almonds, and cool.
