Let's Do Lunch!

Lunch isn't something I would normally "do." I tell people that, in general terms, lunch is an interruption in my day, even on weekends. I used to run errands during lunch; sometimes I still do. I used to think it was okay (once in a while) to drive along eating 290 calories worth of Chicken McNuggets with a carton of skim milk. Or I deluded myself into thinking a fried fast-food fish sandwich on occasion, eaten while driving, was an okay thing.

I know better now. Truth be told, I knew better then but I let myself do it. Now I don't.

I still don't really do a good job of sitting down to eat lunch. With the diet I'm on, I eat 5 little meals during the day so none of them takes me very long to eat. I try to make each one last 10 minutes, but sometimes that's a stretch. That's okay. It's good for me to eat small amounts throughout the day. It's helping me build my metabolism back up. It's a whole lot better than skipping meals, which I used to regularly do. Bad girl. And I know I'm not alone...am I?

I never recommend big lunches because, in my life, dinner is the priority. But sometimes you just have to break out of your regular routine and sit down to a fabulous, leisurely lunch. The French have that down pat. The English do a good job of it on Sunday. I do a decent job of it on vacation. What I'm offering you today isn't a BIG lunch. It's actually light and healthy. It's just more than I would usually eat for lunch. I see it as a lunch with company. A nice bottle of wine or a lemonade spritzer and this lunch would be divine on a warm and breezy afternoon. Eaten outside on a beautifully set table, it has all the elegance of a five-star restaurant, but it can also be eaten on a picnic table or in front of a movie.

Treat yourself and your guests to lunch sometime. You'll be glad you did.

Roasted Plum Tomato Gazpacho with Lump King Crab

Serves four

8 plum tomatoes
Olive oil for drizzle
16 oz Spicy V8 juice (or other tomato juice)
1/2 red pepper, cut into dice
1/2 green pepper, cut into dice
6 scallions or 3 spring onions, diced
1 tsp honey
2 tsp garlic minced (jar garlic will do)
2 Tbl cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 tsp cumin
3 Tbl finely chopped parsley
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
Tabasco or hot sauce to taste
4 slices bakery bread (An Italian loaf will do nicely.)
Butter
1 one-pound can of lump king crab meat (Open, drain and put the crab in the refrigerator until the soup is ready.)

Roasted Plum Tomato Gazpacho

Spray the bottom of a heatproof pan with olive oil, or wipe it in if you're taking olive oil from a bottle. Cut your plum tomatoes in half lengthwise and lay them in the pan. Sixteen halves fit nicely in a 9- by 13-inch pan. Drizzle the whole lot with olive oil. A teaspoon or less per tomato will do it.

Roast the tomatoes one hour at 500 degrees. At 45 minutes you can check them, but rest assured, unless they are really small tomatoes, they will not burn. You want to take them out just when a few of them are starting to get a char on the edges. The longer they are in there, the more intense the flavor will be. Be careful when you remove them from the oven. Also be careful if you are going to put them directly in your blender. Don't burn yourself.

When they are all in the blender you are going to puree them. You can leave a few chunks if you want, but this won't take long to get a nice puree. Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl you are going to put the V8, the red and green peppers, the scallions, honey, garlic, vinegar, cumin, parsley and salt. Add the pureed tomatoes and stir. Taste. Add Tabasco or hot sauce to taste. (A teaspoon or two should do it. If your guests like it hotter, place the Tabasco on the table so they can add more.)

You can put the soup in your refrigerator to chill and serve later, or you can serve it room temperature now.

Open-Face Crab Sandwich

When you are just about ready to serve, you are going to prepare your floating, open-face crab sandwich.

Butter your bread slices on one side. Place them on a cookie sheet. Put in a 350-degree oven for 7 minutes or until very lightly golden on the buttered side. Flip them over and toast for 3 minutes more.

Spoon the soup into shallow bowls. Place the toasted bread on top in the middle of the soup and then pile one quarter of the crab on top of each person's bread slice. It's a sizeable handful. A few pieces will fall off into the soup. That's fine. The soup will be room temperature or cold, the bread will be warm and the crab will be ice cold from the refrigerator. The juxtaposition of the temperatures makes this a very interesting dish.

Serve with a soupspoon as well as a fork and knife so the bread can be cut.

On the side, I recommend a light salad. Mixed greens, toasted pine nuts, diced celery and a few raisins with a green goddess dressing will round the meal out just fine.

Take your time. Savor your food. And Enjoy!...your lunch.