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It is a cold Tuesday. The office kitchen has one microwave, and a line in front of it. You would like soup. Real soup, the kind that was on the stove last night.
Pour it in hot. Eat it at noon. Still steaming.
That is what the insulated food jar is for. Below are two stews we make ourselves, and the three habits that keep them hot until lunch.
Why does stew work so well in a food jar?
Because it is thick. A stew that goes in hot tends to come out hot. It also travels fine on its side, while clear broth goes upright.
The body your stew touches is uncoated 304 stainless steel. The lid is plastic; it has to seal tight and survive a drop.
The jar holds 14 hours hot and 19 hours cold, with no preheating. Whether your stew gets there depends on three things you do in the morning. They come right after the recipes.
Spicy lentil stew
Ingredients
- 1 cup green or brown lentils, rinsed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
- 4 cups (32 fl oz) vegetable broth
- Cumin, paprika, turmeric, a pinch of cayenne
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh parsley to finish
Instructions
- Heat a little oil in a pot. Sauté the onion until golden, then add the garlic for a minute.
- Add the carrots and the spices. Let them cook for a minute.
- Add the lentils, the tomatoes and the broth.
- Simmer until the lentils and the carrots are soft.
- Season with salt and pepper. Parsley on top.
Hearty vegetable stew
Ingredients
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- Carrots, potatoes and celery, diced, about 4 cups in total
- 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
- 4 cups (32 fl oz) vegetable broth
- Thyme, oregano, pepper
- Salt
- Optional: beans, peas or spinach
- Fresh herbs to finish
Instructions
- Sauté the onion and garlic in a little oil. Add the vegetables and cook them briefly.
- Add the tomatoes and the spices. Pour in the broth and bring it to a boil.
- Turn the heat down. Simmer until the vegetables are tender.
- Stir in beans, peas or spinach if you like. Season with salt.
Both stews keep in the fridge for a few days. Which is the point: cook once on Sunday, fill the jar three mornings in a row.
The cold half of lunch goes in the box: bento box lunch ideas for adults.
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How do you keep the stew hot until noon?
Three habits. They cost five minutes, and those pass while the stew is still in the pot.
First, rinse the jar hot. Boil water in a kettle or a pot, pour it in, close the lid.
After about five minutes, pour it out and fill the jar with stew. The steel starts warm instead of cold, and that is warmth your lunch keeps.
Second, fill it full. Less air inside means less to cool down. A half-full jar loses heat faster than a full one.
Third, keep it closed until you eat. Every peek lets the warm air out.
Reheat the stew in a pot, never in the jar. The jar is double-walled and belongs nowhere near a burner.
The single-wall lunch box is a different story: Can you cook in a stainless steel lunch box?
Why won't the lid open at lunch?
That is the vacuum. Hot stew cools a little inside the closed jar, the air shrinks, and the lid gets pulled tight.
Open the top lid, pull the anti-vacuum plug, and air flows back in. Now the main lid twists off without a fight.
If the plug ever goes missing, it is sold separately, as a set of two in your jar size.
How do you clean it afterward?
In the dishwasher. Every part: body, both lids, seal and plug. Rinse it under running water first, so lentils stay out of the filter.
The full routine, from first use to a deep clean, is in the food jar care guide.
Which size? The jar comes in 18, 24 and 34 oz. The 18 oz holds a light lunch, the 24 oz a working day, the 34 oz a whole meal.
So next Sunday, make one of the two. Fill the jar on Monday, and at noon walk past the microwave line. Lid off. Still steaming.
