5 Healthy Lunches You Can Take to Work
Healthy lunches are not just a concern for your kids as they head back to school, but for you as well! It can be challenging coming up with lunch box ideas for your kids, let alone yourself! Maybe you have co-workers who want to go out to eat every day or you tend to skip lunch and visit the vending machine. Or maybe you bring your lunch to work sometimes but you get tired of the same old boring sandwiches you pack.
Personal chef services is the perfect fix for that – we happen to make a lot of lunches for our clients and even companies here in the Lexington area to help combat the lunch conundrum. The key to healthy lunches at the office is something that is easy to make, will store well and something that will make your co-workers wish they were eating what you brought (so it needs to be really delicious!).
I like making a variety of cold and hot options because some days you want something light and refreshing while other days you want something more comforting and filling. Healthy lunches don’t have to be complicated; they can be very simple, so we wanted to share these easy-to-make recipes that can be made the day before or day of without going bad!
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1. Chicken Teriyaki Bowl
This Chicken Teriyaki bowl is amazing! It is also a lot more work to put together than the other lunches we are sharing, but if you make this for dinner the night before then you can simply enjoy the leftovers for lunch the next day. This teriyaki sauce is out of this world, but if you’d prefer to save some time you can certainly buy some at the grocery store, but be mindful that a lot of teriyaki sauce has a ton of added sugar. We love the Coconut Secret Brand, which uses coconut aminos instead of soy sauce, and has very few ingredients. In the picture, you see that the pineapple and chicken are grilled but for this recipe to make it easier, you can simple just cook the chicken on a pan and eat the pineapple as is – but grilling them will definitely add a ton of delicious flavor!
Ingredients:
Teriyaki Bowl:
4 chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes and cooked
1 pineapple cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup red onion diced (1/2 inch)
1/2 cup red bell pepper diced (1/2 inch)
3 cups cooked day old rice (the more dry the rice the better)
1/4 cup- green onion sliced thinly
1/4 cup avocado oil
1/4 cup coconut aminos
3 tbsp sesame seeds
3 pats of butter
2 cups teriyaki sauce (See recipe below) or Coconut Secret Teriyaki Sauce if you’re in a hurry
Salt and pepper, to taste
Teriyaki Sauce:
Ingredients:
3 cups coconut aminos
2 bananas
1 red apple peeled, cored and 1 inch diced
2 cups cantaloupe
1 tbsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
For the Sauce:
1. In a medium sauce pan add all ingredients.
2. Set on low and bring to a slow simmer and reduce. (1 to 1 1/2 hrs)
3. Once fruit breaks down and sauce is reduced and getting thick. Take off stove.
4. Add to blender and blend on high until smooth.
5. Let cool and set aside. Should keep for 2 weeks chilled.
Directions:
1. In a large, heavy sauce pan, put your heat on high (note: pan needs to be HOT!)
2. Add oil and butter until pan is smoking.
3. Add rice and stir to evenly coat rice with oil. (Make sure to move rice quickly or will burn in pan) 3 to 4 min.
4. Add coconut aminos, butter and season with salt and pepper. Coat rice evenly. Cook 2 to 4 minutes.
5. Add cooked chicken, pineapple, red onion, sesame seeds, and bell pepper. Toss evenly with rice. Cook 4 to 6 minutes until chicken and pineapple are browned.
6. Add teriyakl sauce and coat pineapple fried rice. Plate in bowl and garnish with green onions.
2. Mexican Kale Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
Salad:
4 cups kale, stalks removed and coarsely chopped
14 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup corn
2 large bell peppers, finely chopped
1 large avocado, finely chopped
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
Creamy Avocado Dressing:
1/2 large avocado
1/3 cup water
1/2 of a lime, juiced
1 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Add all of the salad ingredients in a bowl and toss together. In a blender, blend all of the avocado dressing ingredients until smooth.
Place the dressing in a separate container and put in the refrigerator until you are ready to toss with your salad. If you are going to bring this salad to the office, I would hold off on putting the salad dressing on the salad until you are ready to eat it or else it will get soggy.
3. Smoked Salmon Toast
Ingredients:
Smoked Salmon slices
Cream cheese, room temperature or hummus
Cucumber slices
Rye bread or whole wheat toast, gf white toast, or bagels work great!
Herbs of your choice, finely chopped, (chopped basil, chives, or dill are awesome choices)
Directions:
Take your rye bread, spread some cream cheese on it, add a few cucumber slices, top with the smoked salmon slices and top with herbs of your choice for extra flavor.
If you would like something a little healthier, use hummus instead of cream cheese. This is such an easy lunch to make and you can find smoked salmon at grocery stores like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. Make two or three of these and you’ll be fully satisfied and ready to get back to work!
4. Greek-Style Stuffed Avocados
These Greek-Style Stuffed Avocados are not only packed with flavor but packed with nutrients that come from the healthy fats in the avocado and the chickpeas. Even though this might not look like a hearty lunch, you’d be surprised how filling two or three of these are!
Ingredients:
1 cup chickpeas
1/2 cup English cucumbers, sliced and quartered
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/3 tsp paprika
Avocados
Avocado oil
Parsley for garnish
Dressing:
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsps tahini
1/4 cup Greek plain yogurt
Directions:
Heat up the grill to medium heat.
Cook the chickpeas and toss them in about 1/2 tsp of grapeseed oil with the paprika and salt and pepper.
Cut the avocados in half, removing the pit. Scoop out the center of the avocado so you have a deep hole in the center. Put some grapeseed oil onto the grill and then place the avocados flesh-side down on the grill for about 5 minutes until they have grill marks.
While the avocados cook, mix the cucumber, tomatoes and dressing in a small bowl. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Divide the cucumber mixture between each avocado half, stuffing it into the center. Top each half with some chickpeas and more dressing if desired and garnish with parsley.
5. Roasted Vegetable and Turkey Pesto Wrap
We couldn’t write about lunch recipes without including a recipe for a delicious wrap! This wrap is more of a warm and cold wrap because it has roasted vegetables in it, but it’s good either way!
Ingredients:
Turkey Slices (I suggest having them cut fresh from your local grocery store deli)
Cheese of your choice, or no choice if you want this to be dairy free
Any farmer’s market pesto sauce or you can make your own here.
Onions, sliced lengthwise
Red bell peppers, sliced lengthwise
Zucchini, sliced lengthwise
Whole wheat tortilla or other tortilla of your choice (gf, spinach, cayenne, corn, etc.)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a cookie sheet, place your onions, red bell peppers and zucchini and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. We love the Kirkland Signature olive oil from Costco, and Trader Joe’s also has really great options that are the real deal.
Cook in the oven until they are roasted and a little caramelized, about 5-10 minutes or until tender.
Pull out of the oven and let the roasted vegetables cool slightly. Take your tortilla and spread with the pesto sauce, add your slices of turkey, cheese and roasted vegetables. Enjoy!
