A Kitchen Vacation

Some days you just don’t feel like cooking. Sunny summery weather is a fleeting luxury in the Inland Northwest, and it is hard to justify spending even one of those luscious days trapped in the kitchen. Nonetheless, people have to eat.

Enter Apple Spice Junction. The box lunch menu offers sandwiches and salads and soups, ready to go for pick up. You can phone, fax or e-mail your order. Lunches are completely self-contained — utensils, condiments, a side salad or chips, a cookie and a mint, all in an attractive presentation black foam box, perfect for smuggling away to a park for a quiet picnic.

I phoned in our order about a half hour before I wanted to pick it up and arrived to find it was ready to go. For big orders, it is best to call in advance. Delivery is free in limited areas, but you’ll need to order at least three lunches.

First up was the breast of turkey sandwich ($7) on honey-wheat bread. All the breads are made fresh daily in the big kitchen at the restaurant’s location on South Washington. This sandwich was a hit with my companion, and although he’s normally a white-bread kind of guy, the freshly baked honey-wheat bread, with its soft texture and slightly sweet flavor, won him over on the first bite. The potato salad accompanying the lunch was nicely balanced between rich, eggy mayonnaise and the bright contrast of pickles and celery seed.

The Office Favorite ($8) offered roast beef, turkey and baked ham with a slice of Swiss on the 13-grain bread. With just four thin slices of meat in all, though, this sandwich wasn’t nearly as hearty as we’d expected. And as on the other sandwich, the green leaf lettuce was a bit battered and wilted, and the thin, pale pink tomato slice lacked flavor and juiciness. The pasta salad sported chunks of carrots and zucchini mingled with spiral noodles and a somewhat bland creamy Italian dressing.

Sandwich boxes include a cookie and a mint as well, a nice finale to the meal.

Although I had a hard time choosing what to order — the cashew-chicken sandwich ($7) sounded interesting, and I have heard rumors that the egg salad ($7) with Swiss cheese and sliced avocado is a delight — I ended up with the taco salad ($9), and it was a good choice. There were no problems with the lettuce here: Crisp iceberg combined with colorful baby greens, green pepper, mushroom, cherry tomato and even a baby ear of corn. Bright green freshly sliced avocado was a treat. The cup of Amy’s Special Recipe chili was tangy and hearty. I added the chili to the salad, and crumbled up some of the pretty red, white and blue corn chips as a topper. A dollop of sour cream and some salsa added kick. I was a little disappointed that the salsa wasn’t fresh, but it did add the requisite zing. I ran out of chili before I ran out of greens, but I was already full anyway. If you want enough chili to finish off the salad, you might want to upgrade to a bowl-size portion.

I’ve eaten at quite a few restaurants, but I had never even heard of one side dish on the Apple Spice Junction menu, so of course I had to try the Frog Eye salad. Fortunately, although it looks eerily like its name, the taste is much better than it sounds. Tiny round pasta is combined with a whipped cream dressing and pineapple and mandarin oranges. This would most likely be a big hit at a potluck, and I enjoyed the rich creamy salad that was more like a dessert.

Boxed lunches are just a small part of the menu at Apple Spice Junction, however. They also cater “executive lunches” for groups of at least 15, including pot roast, chicken cordon bleu and pork roast ($8-$11 per person). For early-bird meetings, there are breakfast specials, including eggs with biscuits and gravy ($9 per person) or cinnamon-swirl French toast ($9) with scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and fresh fruit.

If you are really feeding a crowd, the Summer Sizzle menu may be what you are looking for. For a minimum of 40 people, uniformed chefs will show up to cook a barbecue for you and your new best friends or coworkers. Barbecue or teriyaki chicken dinner starts at $9 per person while the Big Daddy Barbecue with ribs, chicken, hamburgers, bratwurst and sausage with all the sides runs $17 per person. The “Cost Conscious” catering menu offers workday meals for $7 to $8 per person — options include pasta and meatballs, beef stroganoff or a cashew-chicken salad-filled croissant sandwich platter.

Apple Spice Junction is already a favorite with the health-conscious professionals working in Spokane’s hospital zone. And it may be just the ticket if you want a light, healthy meal that’s ready to roll when you are.