The Bistro Box Gourmet

Fan submission!

Mary Ann G. writes:

I am in love!!! These are amazing!!! Bought one this morning for lunch today (just to try it out), then went back this afternoon for two more!!! Going to try a variation of what you did the other day - thank you for the tip!!!

She also submitted this photo (below) of her recent Bistro Box purchases and has promised to share a photo of the resultant lunch/dinner she uses them to create—-along with a recipe—-sometime later this week:

Stoked to see what you make out of these, Mary Ann!

How to make a 3-course meal out of 2 Bistro Boxes + leftovers + $2.00 of rice:

An update from this earlier post.

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What you’ll need:
-1 Starbucks Protein Bistro Box
-1 Starbucks Cheese & Fruit Bistro Box
-4 cups brown rice
-1/2 can of leftover Amy’s Indian Dal Golden Lentil soup
-1 cup of leftover vegetables from an earlier meal (last night’s dinner, perhaps?)
-The goat cheese (2) and tzatziki dip (2) leftover from the two Goat Cheese & Garden Veggies Bistro Boxes consumed at lunch earlier

Difficulty level:
Medium 

How to prepare:

• Boil the 4 cups of brown rice 
   
• While the rice is boiling, take the Protein Bistro Box and the Cheese & Fruit Bistro Box out of the fridge and begin to separate out the ingredients. It will look like a hot mess at this point, but don’t worry:

• Set aside the following items from the two boxes and place in the fridge for use in later meals: the honey peanut butter spread (Protein Box), the multigrain muesli bread (Protein Box), and the nine-grain crackers (Cheese & Fruit Box). 
   
• Separate out all of the fruit including the dried cranberries and roasted almonds and arrange your fruit plate:

• Repeat this step for all of the cheeses (Brie, Gouda, 2 varieties of Chedder), and include the two Goat Cheese wheels saved from lunch earlier:

• Place the cheese and fruit plates into the fridge while you complete the rest of the meal.
   
• Finely chop the hard-boiled egg from the Protein Bistro Box and set aside.
   
• Microwave the leftover vegetables (1 cup) for approximately 3 minutes while heating up the impromptu “curry sauce” (1/2 cup leftover Amy’s Indian Dal Golden Lentil soup) on the stove:

• Arrange the cooked brown rice, microwaved leftover vegetables, and hard-boiled egg onto two plates. Pour about 1/2 of the “curry sauce” over each serving of rice. Garnish each plate with one of the small containers of tzatziki dip leftover from lunch earlier.
   
• Here is what our finished plates looked like before the “curry sauce” and tzatziki dip garnish:

….and here they are with the aforementioned sauce/garnish:



Here is what our finished, 3-course meal looked like:

In total we probably spent $2 or less on this meal, because the only “new” (non-Bistro Box and non-leftover) item incorporated was the brown rice.  

This meal was rated:
4.5 out of 5 stars (by my wife). Comments: “Next time, keep the egg separate” and “The impromptu ‘curry sauce’ and the tzatziki dip taste like they were made for each other!” 

What happened to the multigrain muesli bread (Protein Box), and the nine-grain crackers (Cheese & Fruit Box), you ask?
Well, these both went (along with some leftover rice, cheese, and fruit) into a neat little package for my wife’s lunch at work tomorrow:

I call this “BISTRO BOX SWAGGER SALAD” (and yes, it deserves ALL CAPS).

What you’ll need:
Two of Starbucks’ “Goat Cheese & Garden Veggies” Bistro Boxes (see label below):

Diffculty level:
Super-easy.

How to prepare:
Omit the goat cheese and tzatziki sauce from each Bistro Box. Save these ingredients for another meal. Chop up the tomatoes and veggies. Crumble both packets of cranberry-apple crackers for use as a crouton substitute. Mix well and top with your favorite salad dressing. Enjoy.

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Note: Details on tonight’s dinner later on, as promised.

Tonight’s Challenge.

OK, so here is what I have to work with tonight:

There’s a “Protein” Bistro Box and a “Cheese and Fruit” Bistro Box.

Here are close-ups of the labels, so you can get an idea of the ingredients:

and

These are the other items I have on hand (but may or may not actually use for dinner tonight, at my own discretion and depending on my mood):

1. Not this soup exactly, but about half a can left over from dinner the other night. I might be able to fashion it into a fancy sauce:

2. Ah, beans. Good old-fashioned beans. Less than 99 cents a can. Can’t beat them:

I tend to cook late, so stay tuned for photos of the actual dinner tonight, possibly as late as after midnight.

Wish me luck.