Tasty Take-Outs

Kali yuga is very dark and yet we can sprinkle some light and love in the simplest ways. Take for example when a loved one must trudge off to an outside job everyday and yet come lunch break, in the midst of coworkers, he is able to open up a packed lunch that consists of home cooked items, including enough maha prasada from one's local temple to share.

Some good take out ideas are below:
Deity maha (especially sweets and savories for distribution)
Corn on the cob
Bean burrito with cheese, sour cream and salsa
Various chutneys to balance all six tastes (Ayurveda)
Stir-fried paneer chunks in a subji
Creamy and spicy paneer sandwich spread
Hummus with sprouts in a sandwich
Ground toasted sunflower seed sandwich spread (with salt, pepper, tahini, lemon juice, dill and hing)
Olive pesto for sandwiches or dip
Grilled cheese chapatis with spinach leaves and braised tomato
Homemade chips with sour cream dip
Samosas  or kachoris with chutney
Iddlis or dokla
Corn bread
Pizza slices
Homemade pasta in tomato sauce
Pasta salad
Seitan subjis
Fresh fruits such as mango or banana or cut up into a fruit salad
Potato salad (w/sour cream or thick yogurt, chopped celery, dill, salt and pepper)
Various veggie salads with simple dressing like olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper
A barat burger on a bun with lettuce, sour cream and sprouts (recipe upcoming)
Mung bean or urd dahl barats in yogurt
Tapioca and potato tikkis or paneer tikkis with tomato chutney
Cucumber raita, chickpea raita,
Stuffed paratha
Banana puri
Homemade nut/peanut butter and various fruit jams on bread/chapatis
Toasted bread seasoned with with butter and hing
Deep fried or baked bread sticks
Various desserts- apple crisp, cookies, muffins, cinnamon roll, cookies, fruit fritters, donuts, filled donuts, candied pecans…

Various pakoras and chutney
Bitter melon chips
Dried fruits
Spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce

Hopefully you are feeling inspired what to make next day. These can be mixed and matched into various combinations. And hot soups and beverages are the norm in a Stanley thermos to supplement with during cold winter months. Also bags and containers that can keep foods warm or cool are surely a good investment.

At first, it may take more time to prepare various homemade fare, but gradually as one gains proficiency, things won't take more than an hour tops. One way is by preparing ahead. One can spend half an hour the evening before doing prep work and half an hour next morning doing the actually cooking and offering. For example, the evening before I may put together a pancake mix and then only have to add the water and a little yogurt the next morning for breakfast. And for the next day's lunch plan, I could make chapatti dough ahead of time to use in the morning. I can also precut veggies and have them in the fridge ready to go. Prepare corn and also have the water in a covered pot with salt, ready to heat up in the morning and boil the corn. Another help is to start dahl the night before on an electric range and allow it to cook very slowly with a method I posted earlier (keeping on a rack above the burner, if the heat can't be brought low enough) or with a slow cooker (since a gas stove requires running a vent all night), so it will be ready by morning. My method works best if you are an early riser able to check on it. Or if you put a lot of water in the pot and then start boiling away the excess as soon as you rise..

Now don't forget to include maha tulsi leaves to further remind the lunch recipient of Krishna when he first opens his lunch!