Snack makeover: ploughman's lunch

Have I raved about ploughman's lunches yet? Allow me to do so. I first encountered the concept at what once was one of my favorite eateries, Llywelyn's Welsh Pub in St. Louis. (I say "once was" because I haven't been there in years and years.) The ploughman's lunch is a peasant lunch that relies almost exclusively on quality of ingredients and hardly not at all on preparation or presentation, making it not only authentic but also reliably simple to provide. To stick to the Welsh traditions, a ploughman's lunch consists of coarse bread ("black" bread, akin to pumpernickel, is used at Llywelyn's, but a rustic whole wheat will certainly do), "pickle" (in fact a pickled salad of any kind, but most often in the form of a chutney or, at it's most basic, fruit or vegetable preserves), butter or cheese, preferrably an old country cheese like Cotswold or Gloustershire, though any cheese with some flavor would be perfect; and/or slices of raw onion, a green salad or an apple. Abbey balks at the idea of cheese being a part of my snacks, and I have to agree, cheese means saturated fat, not good for the old ticker, and calories. But some recent studies show cheese has health benefits- some of them unexpected- and is perfect for in between meal snacking. Woo hoo! Vindication, of a sort. Now,  I will be observing the two-dice standard for a serving of cheese to keep the calories down- all the more reason for the cheese to bring a lot of flavor. As for the pickle, I love all things pickled (Some of you realize I have not tried pickled eggs- so for you, I will add the conditional MOST)- so i will be trying different things here. The health benefits of fermented foods are well-documented- so, double health whammy! Frequently I make my own fresh chutney- essentially peaches or apricots (sometimes preserves, I admit) mixed with diced raw onion and a splash of vinegar.

The essential key here- and one of the reasons "ploughman's lunch" came to mind in the first place- is to have the ingredients ready. It's pretty easy to put a slice of this and a dab of that in a to-go container- nowadays I'm thinking a bento-style container would provide ingredient separation as well as natural portion control- which means I don't have to fiddle with something when time is critical. As soon as I've started packing this for my snack, the pics will roll- especially if my Holga shows up sometime soon!