YouAsk Kim
A woman and a child making a salad at a sunlit kitchen table, a man at the counter behind them

Kitchen · 15 min

Make lunchfrom what is here

Open the fridge, find three things that go together, and put them on one plate you sit down for.

15 minutesFrom the library, free to readFour steps
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No shopping, no recipe, no plan. Most kitchens already hold a lunch; it is just in pieces. This practice is about seeing the pieces and putting them on a plate.

The steps

Four small steps,in your own time.

  1. Open the fridge and the cupboard and look for one thing that fills you up: bread, eggs, rice from yesterday, a tin of beans or fish, cheese.

  2. Find one thing that is fresh or crunchy: a tomato, a cucumber, a carrot, an apple, a handful of leaves.

  3. Find one thing that brings it together: a squeeze of lemon, olive oil, a spoon of yoghurt, pickles, a little salt and pepper.

  4. Put it on a real plate, not the packet, and take it to a chair. Eat it sitting down.

The reason

Why it helps

On a busy day lunch is often the first thing to go, or the thing eaten standing up between two other jobs. A plate that took ten minutes is still a meal. Sitting down for it gives the middle of the day an edge, a small stop before the afternoon begins. And knowing that three ordinary things can make lunch takes some of the weight off the question of what to eat.

A gentle variation

If the fridge is nearly empty, toast with something on it counts. If you have no energy at all, eat the three things straight from where they are, but sit down to do it.

Neighbours setting a long table in a green garden

WE · TRIBE

Try itwith someone.

If you live with someone, ask them to pick the third thing. If you are cooking for someone who is unwell, make two small plates of the same thing and eat yours beside them.

Make it a plan in HIVELIVE, with WE

Try it today

Today, find one filling thing, one fresh thing and one thing that brings them together. Put them on a plate and eat it sitting down.

Add it to your day

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