Photos in G: Features/Food/3 March 2015/3-11-15 Lunchbox Lady
DAGNY JOHNSTON | Contributed photos
Boxes.jpg or Card.jpg: The Little Lunchbox Lady will deliver a freshly made lunchbox to your home or business.
Forist.jpg: The Little Lunchbox Lady begins prepping ingredients at 7 a.m. during the week.
Lunch.jpg: This lunchbox is filled with Tuscan white bean, kale & sausage soup with a small homemade loaf of focaccia and baby meringue cookies.
Plank.jpg: Soak the cedar planks in water before putting them on the grill. When the wood begins to smoke and crackle, throw on the salmon for about 20 minutes.
Salads.jpg: Chipotle Chicken Bowls include lime quinoa, cilantro, green onions, cherry tomatoes and avocado served over baby greens with tangy dressing and Tupelo honey for drizzling.
Salmon.jpg: Forist Johnston’sCedar Plank Salmon is served with Coconut Rice and Thai Cucumber Salad.
Strawberry.jpg: A vegetarian lunchbox includescarrot soup with pistachio and sunflower seed crumble, arugula salad packed with gorgonzola, candied pears and walnuts, as well as fresh strawberries.
JAN WADDY | The News Herald
Car.jpg: Forist Johnston’s car is decked out with hot boxes for her gourmet lunchbox deliver service and catering business, Little Lunchbox Lady.
FORGOT YOUR LUNCH?
See Little Lunchbox Lady’s weekly menu at Facebook.com/LittleLunchboxLady. To order,call or text (850)628-0797 your name, phone number and address by 10 a.m. or email littlelunchboxlady@gmail.com. All forms of payment (card, check, cash) accepted.
PANAMA CITY BEACH — By 1 p.m. Friday, the Little Lunchbox Lady had finished delivering her freshly made gourmet lunchboxes from the beach to town and back — wrapping up another week of doing what she loves.
“Every single day, I have something different and new, healthy and fresh. I do a lot of work with health care professionals who get swamped during the day. It really helps a lot of people out,” said Forist Johnston, 21, who has taken the semester off from Gulf Coast State College’s culinary program. “I make a lot of deliveries to hospitals, co-workers, sometimes even housewives who are home all day. Yesterday, I went to high school.”
A licensed caterer, Johnston starts her weekdays at 7 a.m. at Your Pro Kitchen, where she preps, cooks and bakes with ingredients from local farmers’ markets.
“I did Chipotle Chicken Bowls today that had Tupelo honey. This week, strawberries are in season, so all the boxes have been filled with them,” Forist said. “I put on music, dance around and work.”
Lunches are delivered to area customers around noon Monday through Friday.
“My car is decked out for catering with hot boxes and all that stuff. I do my very last delivery before 12:30,” said Johnston, whose resume includes Wild Olives in Rosemary Beach.
Each black disposable lunchbox is filled with a complete meal, as well as napkins — extra for messy entrees — salt and pepper, forks, knives and spoons.
“I put a lot of love into it — handwritten notes, cucumbers cut into little hearts. It makes people happy. I love all my regulars, and all my new customers,” she said. “I have never had someone order and not order again.”
Since January, Johnston has received about 20 lunchbox orders a day.
“I plug it into my GPS. Sometimes I have help — my mom or boyfriend,” said Johnston, who admitted she “brown-bagged it all the time” growing up.
“My mom used to make bologna sandwiches, and cut them into shapes like hearts. She was very sweet with it. She would write words into bananas by carving little notes into the side,” Johnston recalled.
She not only shares the same kindness and entrepreneurial spirit of her mother, Dagny Johnston of Dagny & Dexter’s “doggie daycare and spaw,” but also bears a strong resemblance.
Johnston didn’t find out her grandmother, Collene Fernandez, had a similar lunch business in Puerto Rico until after she began the Little Lunchbox Lady.
“My family said, ‘Oh, your grandmother did that.’ I didn’t know,” she said. “She was doing this at home, and people would come pick them up from her house. Lunch boxes are a normal thing there. My grandmother did a lot of pork, traditional Spanish food, such as an entire pig underground. With $5 lunch boxes, she put her kids through college.”
Johnston finalizes her weekly menu by Sunday and posts it on her Facebook page, Facebook.com/LittleLunchboxLady, and her website, LittleLunchboxLady.com. Customers can preorder for the week or each day by 10 a.m. Just call or text your name, phone number and address to(850) 628-0797 or email littlelunchboxlady@gmail.com.
Johnston’s lunches are $10, which includes the delivery fee and taxes, but single orders are an extra $2. All forms of payment are accepted.
“A husband and wife both work from home and order every single day,” Johnston said. “I say lunches are better when eaten together.”
The menu for March 9-13 has included Japanese Drumsticks with coconut rice and fresh cucumber salad. “I did that in one of the boxes my first week, and it was a big hit. It’s really good. Honestly, when you’ve finished you will want to drink the dressing,” she admitted. “I really like Asian and Spanish food.”
She amped up a Taco Tuesday tradition with corn tortillas filled with charred flank steak, fresco cheese, cilantro, guacamole and cactus pears served with pineapple jicama salsa and tortilla chips.
“Drinks are an extra $1. I try to do themed. Like with the Carnitas, I did Mexican sodas or green tea with Asian,” Johnston explained.
Wednesday’s lunchbox includes Grilled Cheese (Havarti jalapeno cheese, bacon jam and caramelized onion between two thick slices of brioche) served with a cup of tomato soup with hints of garlic and thyme and Parmesan crisps.
“I started with a whole vegetarian menu, but mostly if you call, I have a vegetarian option. Most of my things are not focused around the meat,” said Johnston, who takes special dietary requests by phone or email. “I try to have something for every diet — that’s really important.”
Cedar Plank Salmon
- 2 pounds salmon filets
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup chopped green onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 (12 inch) untreated cedar planks — you can find these in Publix or at Home Depot
Start by soaking the cedar boards in water for at least one hour — longer, if you have time.
Whisk together the soy sauce, green onion, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Pour mixture into a large gallon Ziploc bag and let marinade for 15 minutes to an hour.
Heat the grill to medium high and lay down the cedar plank. When wood begins to smoke and crackle, you are ready to throw on your fish. Go ahead and discard the marinade. Cover, and grill for about 20 minutes. Fish is done when you can flake it with a fork.
Source: Forist Johnston, Little Lunchbox Lady
Coconut Rice
- 1 14-ounce can coconut milk
- 1¼ cups water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1½ cups uncooked jasmine rice
- ½ cup chopped dry roasted peanuts (optional)
- 1 tablespoon cilantro (optional)
In a saucepan, combine coconut milk, water, sugar and salt. Stir around until sugar is dissolved. Stir in rice. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18 to 20 minutes, until rice is tender. Fluff the rice with a fork, garnish with dry roasted peanuts and cilantro.
Source: Forist Johnston, Little Lunchbox Lady
Thai Cucumber Salad
- 6 cucumbers, peeled and sliced
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 red onion, diced small
- 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chopped roasted peanuts to garnish
Whisk together the sugar, vinegar, red pepper and coriander until all sugar is dissolved. Stir in cucumbers, onion, cilantro and mint. Add salt and pepper.
Garnish with roasted peanuts just before serving.
Source: Forist Johnston, Little Lunchbox Lady
FORGOT YOUR LUNCH?
- See Little Lunchbox Lady’s weekly menu at Facebook.com/LittleLunchboxLady. To order,call or text (850)628-0797 your name, phone number and address by 10 a.m. or email littlelunchboxlady@gmail.com. All forms of payment (card, check, cash) accepted.