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I work construction (electrician) and am going vegetarian soon. I'm looking for ideas of what I could eat for lunch other than a salad. Something I can slap together in the morning and will hold up until lunch time. Also, I don't have access to microwave or anything like that.
Give us a little more to go on. What do you include/exclude in your diet? Might your lunch spoil in the heat or freeze in the cold?
Standard lunch = a salad and/or fruit, some sort of main course, be it a sandwich or leftover dinner and for many, something that looks like dessert.
Your salad can be on your sandwich; your dessert can be comprised mainly of fruit. I presume that you're worried about protein and feeling full, satisfied?
I would definitely recommend cheese, a bagel with cream cheese, a croissant (or two), or even some Icelandic or Greek yogurt. I like to get a thing of Siggi's Icelandic yogurt from Whole Foods and it has 45 grams of protein and only 266 calories (and I believe is 16 ounces).
In my opinion, whole grains and dairy are key to a healthy diet, which will also keep away hunger.
Falafels are yummy, and easy to make .. especially if you buy the mix in the pkg .. all you need to do it add water, wait a few minutes, make into small patties and saute.
I like to add mashed avocado and a little chopped onion for more flavour.
Throw it together in a pita bread. Chop some tomato, onion and take in a separate container to add to the pita at lunch time.
Satziki sauce also, and easy to make. Homus is good also.
plain yogurt
little sour cream
garlic clove or two, mashed
1/2 tsp cumin
squeeze or two of lemon juice
Get some 'snack' bags (ziplocks) .. great for carrot sticks, celery sticks with cheese, raddishes, pickles, nuts, cookies,
Homus and pita or any hearty whole grain breads are good. A lot of deli's sell homus, again .. not too difficult to make.
can of chick peas drained
a little tahini paste - 2 or 3 TBSP, depending on your taste (ground sesame seeds)
couple of mashed garlic cloves
lemon juice to your desired taste
a little water helps it to blend better
salt
and throw it all into a blender. add a little olive oil to mix in the end by hand, as it may gum up in the blender. also a little cut up parsley.
Doesn't take long to experiment and get it to your own taste. If you don't have any cookbooks, just punch 'homus' into google and gets lots of good recipes.
Also with homus on hand, can make all sorts of good veggy wraps .. little hot sauce, and you're good to go.
Loving the hummus and wrap ideas above! Add spinach for extra iron and other vitamins, plus fiber.
You can also just take pre-made hummus in it's container with chips or crackers.
A co-worker has his wife make extra bean and rice burritos on Sunday nights. They freeze them. Then they are microwaved, wrapped in foil and carried in an insulated bag for consumption at work later.
Edamame. The vegetarian shrimp....because they are so fun to eat. Just steam these puppies the night before. I like mine with a little rice wine vinegar and sea salt. Good hot, cold, and anywhere in between.
Don't forget the basic PB&J....but don't be afraid to experiment. Almond butter with grilled apples on toasted ciabatta? Cashew butter with pepper jelly? Experiment and find out what work for you.
Finally, a weird favorite. I sautee tempeh on the stove, toast some dark rye/pumpernickle, and then stuff the whole thing with saurkraut and dijon mustard and dill relish. Kind of weird, I know, but I actually crave this sometimes.
Thanks for all the ideas, some of them sound great! I already love hummus and am going to try making my own soon. Love the falafel idea.
I'm really looking for foods that fill me up and give me enough energy to get through the day. These ideas look like a great start. The only thing I want to avoid is soy, so there will be some challenge there I guess.
Onion and cheese are good, also my fave, papaya and brie.
Heat a frying pan and oil lightly. Get ingredients ready .. saute onion, grate cheese .. or cut papaya into long strips (skin off) and brie into narrow pieces.
Heat tortilla on one side, then onto other .. lay cheese and onion, or papaya/brie on one half, then fold other half of torilla over on top. Turn until cheese is melted.
They're good cold also. Salsa, sour cream on side if you wish.
Cucumber sandwiches are surprisingly good too. Really refreshing, especially if the bread's real fresh.
Cut the cucumbers thin, and pile them on, mayo. Salt and pepper is good, but will make them 'bleed' so maybe take that on the side also. or even the cucumbers in a little container until lunch time. Same for tomatos.
Also salmon and tuna if you eat seafood. Tuna's good with cut up white onion and mayo, and salmon's good with diced white onion and sweet pickle, salt and mayo.
I'm one having to make construction lunches most days .. and it's hard to get some interesting variety happening .. unless you can sit down with a fork and chow down on some potato salad or something.
That's good also, and pretty easy. I don't add eggs (because I don't like them) so it lasts a little longer.
Cold pasta salads are good too, if you have the time to sit and eat them.
Cherry tomatos are good to take also.
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