Contributor Maggie G. shows you how to prep a delicious (flexible) lunch that will last a week and keep the 3pm munchies at bay. And it can easily be made vegetarian/vegan.
NBD, just ate lunch on a dock.
On the menu: a chicken salad salad (one of my favorite types of salad) from a local market, apple, and diet Dr. Brown’s (I don’t normally go for diet soda — ew chemicals — but Dr. Brown’s is the BEST).
I just wanted to share a couple meals/dishes I’ve been eating lately. It’s officially summer, which means I’m still on a cold foods kick. Or at least, I’m not attracted to foods that are piping hot.
Going with the theme of cool foods, I threw together a lunch the other day that was pretty tasty and flavorful.
A bunch of veggies, hard-boiled egg, a bowl full of Trader Joe’s gazpacho (so good!), and a dollop of tzatziki sauce. The gazpacho advertised itself as being “fat-free,” and you all know how I feel about fat. So I had to add some extra in the form of the tzatziki, which actually worked beautifully with the slightly spicy gazpacho.
Besides cool food, another thing that screams summer to me is asparagus. It’s a good I never used to like at all, but now I actually enjoy it in certain preparations. I think it’s great both roasted and grilled. Since I don’t have a grill, I had to go with roasted.
My method:
So yummy. I think you could absolutely eat these cold or at room temp if you can’t stand the thought of something fresh from the oven.
I recently discovered that Jimmy John’s makes sandwiches in lettuce wraps. It sort of made my life. Understandably, I’ve been hankering for them ever since. My favorite is the Beach Club Unwich, with turkey, provolone, avocado spread, cukes, tomatoes, and sprouts. So satisfying with the avocado, and so refreshing encased in the crunchy lettuce. Because I was in the mood for a treat, I also got jalapeno potato chips on a whim (the ingredient list wasn’t AWFUL). Good decision on my part.
I’m completely content right now.
Lunches are always somewhat of a challenge for me. I don’t usually go the typical sandwich/soup & salad route — I like hot MEALS for lunch. Otherwise, I tend to get hungry pretty quickly. So leftovers are my BFF when it comes to lunches.
But sometimes, I just cook real meals to be eaten specifically at lunch! Today was one of those times. I had some grass-fed tenderloin steaks that needed to be eaten STAT, as well as some red kale. I only had about 30 minutes to whip something up and I didn’t want to make a mess.
Enter the one-pan lunch! The ingredients were simple:
Steak, kale, Kerry Gold pastured butter, and (of course) a pan. I also had to scrounge together some decent seasonings. I would have made my own rub for the steak, but I was at my boyfriend’s casa and his spice rack is a bit limited. I found this, though:
It smelled good, so I went with it.
I coated the steaks in melted butter, then added the seasonings and threw ‘em in a hot pan. They cooked for about 7-10 minutes on each side for a medium-well doneness. Then, the kale went into the pan with some salt + pepper. After it cooked down, lunch for at least the first two days of the work-week was served!
You could also pan-fry some potatoes if you need your carb fix! If this doesn’t get you excited about eating lunch at your desk, I don’t know what will.
Real food, fitness, and health advice for real people who love food and don't want to spend hours in the gym.
Email questions, comments, or suggestions to leah@yourhealthista.com.
