Money works for the most part, but what if everyone traded goods, and only goods? Maybe the world would still have the same problems, possibly even worse. For that split second though, doesn’t it sound like harmonious bliss? Making, trading, borrowing, reusing. Who even sets up the monetary value of materials anyway? The government? And so the whole idea gets swallowed up by all the other curiosities that fill my mind.

How do those icicle drops on the ends of trees even form?
Oof, my sides. I need to do yoga.
How will I ever fill the blank calendar I have sitting on my desk?
I need to call my mom back.

Bartering was successful for me once though. During Lent, my father packed me a tuna fish sandwich for lunch. It was full of dill, lemon zest, olive oil, red onion, and mayonnaise. It was his masterpiece. My brother had the same thing everyday, so when I gave him the permission to do whatever he wanted, he let slip the creative genius he had been holding back for so many lunches. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not so much because of the tuna fish sandwich itself, but rather what I could do with it. Every Friday, I traded half of the sandwich to my good friend Steve. He went berserk for the dill, could smell whether the sandwich had it or not as soon as I opened my lunch box. In return, I got whatever side course the cafeteria was serving that day: Lays potato chips, Frittos, chocolate chip cookies, or my holy grail, the Cosmic Brownie.

Now as I find myself packing lunch, I try to make a creation that would stun the “Steves” in my life. I still make the same sort of tuna fish sandwich, sans mayonnaise, on two toasted slices of bread, opting for sides of roasted chickpeas and kale chips. Every now and again when I eat with a friend, I get the opportunity to trade food, bringing me straight back to the idea and inevitably saying the words, “Bartering, man. I feel like that would solve a lot of problems.”

Toasted Tuna Fish Sandwich
1 scallion (chopped finely)
¼ cup of fresh dill (chopped)
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Juice of ½ of lemon
Kosher salt
Pepper
1 can tuna fish in olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
¼ cup of arugula
2 slices of durum round or sourdough bread

Place finely chopped scallion, dill,  lemon zest, juice, and olive oil in a medium sized bowl.
Mix into a paste with fingers, gradually adding salt and pepper to taste.
Open can of tuna fish and squeeze out any excess oil with the metal lid of the can.  
Mix tuna with scallion paste and set aside.
Melt the butter in a frying pan and set to medium high heat.
Toast the bread in the butter until the sides begin to turn a light maple brown.
Once the bread is cool, place the arugula on top of the bottom slice.  Next place a good amount of the tuna fish mixture on top. Finish with remaining slice of bread.

Ginger Kale Chips
2 teaspoons of spoons of grated ginger
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 bunch of dinosaur kale
Kosher salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 300 ° F.
Clean and trim stems of dinosaur kale.
After ensuring kale is dry, cut the kale into 1 inch strips.
Toss kale in ginger, olive oil, salt and pepper. Keep tossing until all of the kale is glossy with olive oil. Make sure the ginger is evenly distributed.
Divide the kale between two cookie sheets and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and shake the pan to ensure the kale isn’t sticking to the cookie sheet.
Put the sheets back into the oven for 10 more minutes.
The chips are done when they shake freely from the pan
Cool and place in an airtight container and eat within 1 -2 days.

Roasted Chickpeas
1 can of chickpeas
1 teaspoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Rinse the chickpeas in water and remove husks.
Dry chickpeas and place in bowl, toss in oil and italian seasoning.
Place chickpeas on roasting pan in hot oven.
Roast for 10-15 minutes or until browned.
Cool before eating.