Cynthia Nixon Revealed Her Long-Time Lunch That Powers Her Through Long Days On Set, And After Trying It Myself... I Have Thoughts
I couldn’t help but wonder, was it any good?
And just like that… And Just Like That is ending. After three seasons, showrunner Michael Patrick King and star Sarah Jessica Parker have announced that the Sex and the City revival is coming to a close.
Obviously, Sex and the City has had a major cultural impact. And its impact on food is no exception. The original series helped popularize multiple New York establishments, like Magnolia Bakery.
And while not directly SATC-related, Cynthia Nixon had her own moment of food virality when she revealed her go-to bagel order while running for New York Governor.
Her order of a cream cheese and raisin bagel with smoked salmon cream cheese was so outlandish to people (especially New Yorkers) that the public demanded to “lox her up.” NGL, they kinda ate with that slogan (no pun intended)…
Recently, during press for this last season of And Just Like That, Cynthia gave more insight into her favorite foods, revealing the healthy lunch she’s been eating for years.
In a cast interview with SiriusXM, Andy Cohen brought up a story Sarah Jessica Parker had previously told about Cynthia Nixon bringing Tupperware with her everywhere.
So, what’s in this famous Tupperware?
“I have the same lunch every day unless I go out,” Cynthia explained. “I have kale, quinoa, curried chickpeas, sweet potato, avocado, red pickled onions, and hot sauce.”
The lunch honestly sounded delicious, so I had to give it a try.
Psst: To prep hundreds of easy lunches right on your phone, download the free Tasty app right now.
The first thing I did was gather my main ingredients. The recipe involves a lot of prep, so I had my work set out for me.
The specifics of Cynthia’s lunch were vague. How much of each ingredient does she use? How are they prepared? Needless to say, I had to freestyle a bit.
I started by prepping the sweet potatoes and red onions; I chopped the sweet potatoes into small chunks and thinly sliced the red onion.
I roasted the sweet potatoes at 400ºF for about 30 minutes with olive oil and salt.
Onto the pickled red onions: I combined boiling water and granulated sugar in a bowl, mixing until the sugar dissolved completely. Next, I added red wine vinegar, the sliced red onion, and salt. I then put this mixture in the fridge to pickle for a few hours.
Next up, it was time to deal with the kale. Recipes with kale in them can sometimes turn people off.
The key is to massage the raw kale with olive oil until it's reduced in size by about half. This makes the kale softer and easier to eat.
Finally, it was time to put everything together!
So, did Cynthia recover from Bagel Gate?
To quote Berger (Post-It Guy) from SATC… “I’m sorry. I can’t. Don’t hate me.” This lunch had the potential to be great. I love pickled red onions, and the acidity mingled well with the hearty, roasted sweet potato and creamy avocado. However, the curried chickpeas totally threw off the flavor profile of everything else in the bowl. The cumin flavor was overwhelming amidst the vibe of the rest of the ingredients. It especially clashed with the hot sauce. Though both were spicy, they tasted completely different. I’m guessing Cynthia must be a spice queen, which is why both are included.
That being said, it was a nice, hearty lunch. While I didn’t give myself a big portion, I could see this lunch getting Cynthia through long filming days if she was loading a substantial amount of it into her Tupperware.
If I were to make this lunch in the future, I’d sub the spiced chickpeas with roasted or even plain, canned chickpeas. I’d also add feta to go with the sweet potatoes. Finally, I’d omit the hot sauce and top the salad with green goddess dressing.
On to the next celebrity lunch!
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