Simple, Yummy & Healthy Lunches
Simple yummy lunches that you can take to work!
Sometimes you just don’t have time to cook an elaborate meal and don’t have any healthy take out or cafeteria options at work, so here are a few ideas for simple lunches that are healthy and easy, whether you go into the office, or work from home.
1. A big crunchy salad—this is one of the easiest to prepare, I think. I like to add in some spring greens, cucumbers, canned corn, radishes or whatever else I have on hand that can go into a salad. Pickled onions, oven crisped chickpeas or something like tinned sardines are all delicious. Add it all to a jar and make my simple vinaigrette recipe (you can find it a few blog posts down!) in another container and mix right before eating.
2. Rice Bowl—if you make extra rice sometime during the week, its great to have some handy in the fridge for quick meals. I prefer to have some brown rice, its extra filling and has plenty of fiber and then I basically add in any toppings that I have. Chicken breasts, sliced carrots, pickled things, with a coconut peanut sauce is delicious. For the sauce I simply mix some peanut butter, coconut milk, sriracha and some sort of soy sauce together.
3. Sourdough toast—I like to buy sourdough bread from my local bakery, multigrain is yummy too, and add some butter and avocado to the top as well as some tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil. Simple, delicious, and healthy.
4. Everything stir fry—sounds complicated but comes together so quickly, if you happen to already have cooked rice or any other kind of grain, add that to some sauteed garlic (or powder in a pinch), whatever kind of vegetables you have, a protein of choice with some salt and pepper and voila! If you want more flavor, having a red pepper paste in the fridge is always great. Simply add a spoonful of that to any dish for instant flavor.
5. Steamed veggies—Simply steam some veggies and it to a side of protein. For example, I like to get a large piece of salmon to slice it up into individual portions and put in my freezer for easy meals. When you want one, simply thaw in the fridge the night before and place skin side down (if it has skin) on a lightly oiled hot pan. Flip over after a few minutes or until slightly pink and add to your steamed veggies and finished.
6. Yogurt parfait—I like adding in a good vanilla yogurt with lots of fresh fruit on top with hemp seeds, chia seeds, granola, oats or whatever else you like. Be cautious of the yogurt you choose as it could be filled with lots of sugars which would just lead to a crash in the afternoon. You can also get a full fat Greek yogurt, its thicker and less acidic than regular yogurt, has healthy essential fats and can be topped with raw honey for some sweetness and extra minerals.