SPAM for Lunch

I wasn't sure if I'd be called for afternoon round of jury duty, so my limbo lunch plans made today the perfect day to use some left over nori sheets, leftover quinoa-laced rice, and my emergency SPAM Singles Lite pack.

From SPAM LUNCH

While my family tends to keep a can of SPAM® LOW SODIUM as a pantry item, the slice o' SPAM was purcased on a whim when I found it at a 99¢ Only Store. This humble slice has been patiently waiting for me to rescue it from my desk and take it to the kitchenette where it could fulfill its destiny as -- SPAM Onigiri.



I would probably not have enjoyed myself as much if it weren't for the awesome Onigiri wrap sheets I found at a Fremont 99 Ranch.



The wraps are so glam-looking and come with a set of bright orange stickers to "seal" your creation. But the most fantastic element is the built in tear-line. It allows you to remove only half of the wrap, thus exposing only a first-half to your mouth.

Chicken Quinoa Soup with Peas and Shallots

The worst thing about being sick and away from home or any significant others is that if you're sick, you're likely in charge of making/buying your own sick food. When I lived in Allston, I was more than happy to pay a delivery fee to get quarts of Zaftig's Chicken Soup egg noodles with matzo ball (plus extra matzo balls) sent to my door. If I were home, my mom would make chicken soup from scratch, or better yet, gingery, scalliony bubur ayam (Malay name of what's commonly referred to in Chinese kitchens as jook/congee or in my-speak "rice porridge with chicken").

In college, I got the nerve to learn to make chicken soup from scratch. I've always wanted to learn to make matzo balls on my own, but alas, this last 'bout of sickness zapped all energy I had to figure 'em out. Instead, I boiled the bones from my roasted chicken and turned the homemade broth into a simple soup of chicken, shallots, frozen peas, and quinoa.

p.s. I made the unfortunate mistake of adding more quinoa before my first 3/4 c. fully cooked. I added another half c. and came back to a pot of quinoa porridge! Hey, even mistakes (or surprises?) can be tasty =)