
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 7, 1995                   TAG: 9506070023
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES FOOD EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DINNER-TO-DESK DINING

It's not unusual for dinner's leftovers to become the next day's lunch. Unfortunately, though, the leftovers are often more of an afterthought, thrown together in an unappetizing and possibly unbalanced meal. Not so, anymore.

More and more people are cooking as though there is a tomorrow - or even several tomorrows. In other words, they're preparing dinner with leftovers for lunch in mind.

In ``Dinner's Ready,'' ($22, William Morrow and Company Inc.) food writer Andrew Schloss and editor Ken Bookman take meal planning to a new plane. Components from each main dinner menu ( 52 main dinner menus in all) are recycled into a week's worth of delicious, creative meals, where both the word and concept of ``leftover'' are verboten.

To give an example of the complexity and forethought here, Main Menu One - roast lemon and coriander chicken; caponata; and angel hair pasta with arugula pesto - during the week yields lemon chicken couscous; microwaved cod nicoise, chevre cheeseburgers with green herb salsa; and soupe au Pistou. Weekday entrees are planned in a daily order that ensures that reserved ingredients remain at optimum freshness. And despite some complicated-sounding names, the instructions are easy to follow and most ingredients easily found. The book's lay-flat plastic ring binding and wipe-clean hardback cover are additional plusses. And although most of its meals are geared toward evening fare, there is no rule that says part or all of them can't be taken for lunch.

A recent national survey of 500 full-time workers' lunch habits, by the manufacturers of Essentials Bread, found that most of the workers believed home-packed lunches are cheaper and healthier than eating out. Further, nearly 80 percent of the respondents said they'd take lunch more often if it were quick and easy to make. The bread's manufacturers suggest the following strategies:

Avoid the typical morning rush by making lunch preparation a part of dinner clean-up. Or, pack your own lunch at the same time as you put together your kids' noontime meals.

Include fresh munchable fruits and vegetables, such as baby carrots, cucumber slices and cherry tomatoes; fruit juice; water or decaffeinated iced tea; reduced and nonfat cheeses, crackers, chips and cookies.

Keep portion sizes in check to help control calories.

Wrap lettuce and tomato slices separately and add them to your sandwich just before eating.

Stash away $5 toward a special reward for every lunch you make at home. The average eating-out lunch costs $10.

You'll be surprised at how quickly your savings add up. Maybe you'll use them to treat yourself to one heckuva eating-out meal.

Recipes for:

BAKED HAM WITH FRUIT

ROSEMARY SAUCE

GRILLED VEGETABLES

GRILLED PEPPER AND HAM SANDWICH

GRILLED ROSEMARY CHICKEN

ROSEMARY CHICKEN SANDWICH

GARLIC NEW POTATOES

ROASTED POTATO SALAD WITH OLIVES

RED CHILI LAMB CHOPS WITH WARM TORTILLAS

SHREDDED BRAISED LAMB IN A PITA

by CNB