Making Lunch Exciting, Wisconsin Film Festival, Why We’re So Overwhelmed

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• Chef Says Lunch Is A 'Lost Stepchild'

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  The popular wisdom is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that dinner is a big part of any family’s time together.

  But, award-winning chef Gale Gand argues that lunch is one of the most important meals of the day, calling it the “lost stepchild” of meals.

  “What I love about lunch is it’s really an important meal for how the rest of your day goes,” she said.

  The flexibility of lunch is something she believes people should focus more on. Gand said when people talk about lunch, they’re talking about a lot of different things: lunch at home with friends, a packed work lunch, a packed lunch for children or even a picnic.

  A big part of making a great lunch is about doing things in advance, she said.

  “The idea of being able to do steps ahead of time really makes a difference between my kids getting something interesting for lunch and getting something boring,” Gand said.

  She recommended two things to make the time for better, homemade lunches: People making recipes that have multiple purposes and making simpler dishes.

  An example of a recipe with multiple purposes is Gand’s recipe for panko chicken strips. They’re great for dinner as an entree, but they also make a great addition to tacos for lunch the next day.

  Gand shared this tilapia recipe to make for lunch. She said she loves using tilapia because it’s such a resilient fish, and people can make the relish ahead of time.

  Here are the recipes:

  Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia with Cucumber, Tomato, & Fennel Relish
  (Excerpted from “Gale Gand’s Lunch,” by Gale Gand. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.)

  “A trip to Costa Rica made me mad for tilapia. Here, I bread it lightly with a mixture of panko (my favorite type of bread crumb) and grated Parmesan, which melts and browns and toasts like the best part of a grilled cheese sandwich,” she wrote.

  Serves 4

  FOR THE FISH

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 tilapia fillets
  • 1/4 cup canola oil

  
  FOR THE RELISH

  • 1/4 seedless (English) cucumber, cut into
  • 1/4-inch cubes
  • 1 heirloom or vine-ripened tomato, seeded and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
  • 1/2 medium bulb fennel, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
  • 1 scallion, sliced
  • 1 orange, peeled and sectioned
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pinch sugar
  • 6 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

  
  Make the fish: Crack the egg into a wide, shallow bowl, then beat it with a fork with 1 teaspoon water. In another wide, shallow bowl, combine the panko, Parmesan, parsley, and pepper.

  Dip the fillets, one at a time, into the egg, coating both sides. Then place them one at a time into the crumb mixture to coat, gently turning them to coat both sides and pressing down a bit to help the crumbs stick to the fish. Place the fillets on a platter.

  In a large sauté pan, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. Add the coated fillets and cook until golden brown on one side, about 5 minutes, then carefully flip them and cook until the other side is golden brown, about 5 minutes more.

  Make the relish: In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber, tomato, fennel, scallion, orange sections, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar, and basil and toss to mix.

  To serve, place the fillets on plates and spoon the relish over them. Store the relish and the fish in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to three days.

  PACK IT TO GO WITH: watermelon wedges and a lime wedge (for squeezing on the watermelon)
  EAT IT AT HOME WITH: couscous
  MAKE IT A PARTY WITH: Delicata Squash with Garlic (page 192) and Coconut Blueberry Tapioca (page 215)

• Food Friday: In Defense of Lunch

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  Award-winning chef, Gale Gand, tells Veronica Rueckert and Rob Ferrett why lunch is the new dinner.

• Director and UW-Madison alum Tim Sutton discusses his second feature film, “Memphis.” The film charts a newly successful recording artist’s return to Memphis and struggle with what to do next. Through encounters with lovers, legendary musicians, hustlers, preachers, and a wolf-pack of kids, he grapples with the expectations, both his own and from others, that come with new found fame.

  Throughout the show on Friday, Central Time features films from the Wisconsin Film Festival.

• Why We're So Overwhelmed…And What We Can Do About It

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  In today’s society, many of us feel like we’re drowning in commitments. What happened to leisure time? A journalist finds out what’s behind the constant feeling of being overwhelmed, and what we can do about it.