Ploughman's Lunch

What do you eat after weeks and weeks of planning and preparing Christmas dinner and then you eat your Christmas dinner and are basically still satisfied the whole next day and don't feel like eating much? Something light and healthful, that's what. I've been watching the Food Network lately, particularly The Barefoot Contessa because I had bought her latest cookbook for a Christmas gift for my sister called Cook Like A Pro. My sister already cooks like a pro, in my opinion, but she stated at Thanksgiving that she wanted Ina Garten's latest cookbook (Ina Garten is the Barefoot Contessa) so that was an easy gift shopping experience since her new cookbook is everywhere. Now, I'm sort of hooked on her TV show. Bruce even likes watching it. I got my gingerbread making motivation by watching all the Christmas competitions on the Food Network; Christmas Cookie Challenge and Gingerbread Challenge. ha ha I don't usually like watching those competitions because they rush so much to make their product and it causes so much angst! But for some reason, I enjoyed it this year and it was sort of inspiring to me. Last night, we were watching my recorded Barefoot Contessa shows and there was one where her husband, Jeffrey, gave her a gift that was a trip to London. So, off to London they went and she explored all these wonderful food shops. One place where she went, they had a ploughman's lunch. It really isn't unlike the kind of meals they eat in other countries in Europe, it's just a big presentation of fresh, local meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables on a serving platter. Bruce and I knew immediately that was what we felt like. We went through the refrigerator and put together a lot of items that fit the description of a ploughman's lunch including some thinly sliced leftover beef tenderloin with the sauces and we made some 7-minute eggs. A ploughman's lunch includes some kind of local meat, hard boiled eggs, artisan bread with butter and some form of pickle or chutney. Other items, are fresh veggies like radishes, celery and carrots and sliced apples with some local cheeses. So simple. But, oh so good. You probably have stuff in your refrigerator right now that you could make your own ploughman's lunch. So, go ahead and fix your own platter. After all our holiday eating and treating ourselves to goodies, it's really nice to get back to simple basics and have a ploughman's lunch for dinner tonight.

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