lunch ideas at work - high in protein and veggies

[Anonymous]

am looking for lower carb (not necessarily low carb) but i don't really like to base my lunch around a lot of bread or pasta (save that for the evening) lunch ideas that are easy and quick and transportable. I have a refrigerator at work and toaster oven and microwave. Right now i eat salad with half a tortilla filled with melted ricotta and fresh mozzarella and topped with avocado. Am bored and think i need some more protein (however, am tired of turkey and don't have time to cook chicken breasts). Ideally i love the salads from whole foods - roasted or marinated tofu with tons of veggies but don't have time or money to go to whole foods every day for lunch. Also, am concerned about eating tofu everyday because i am breastfeeding (soy/estrogen issue). any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! thanks

[Anonymous]

I've been having a lot of tuna salad. Trader Joe's has a "spicy peanut vinaigrette" dressing that is delicious with albacore or yellow fin tuna. I mix the whole can of tuna, 1 tbsp of dressing, some shaved carrots, some pineapple cut into tiny pieces, and that's it. I serve half of it on a salad consisting of baby spinach and pineapple chunks, and stuff the other half into a whole wheat pita. It's high in protein, delicious, and very filling.

[Anonymous]

nice idea - am not a big tuna person and with the mercury levels i try to limit it to sushi on occasion.....

[Anonymous]

I am looking for ideas too.

What about lentil soup, and then add plain yogurt to it after reheating.

Quinoa salads.

[Anonymous]

Greek yogurt
Almond butter with flax seeds
Protein shake
Beef jerky
Hard boild eggs

[Anonymous]

Bean and Lentil soups (I make a huge batch on the weekend, yield a few lunches for me and DH). I usually add some kind of smoked turkey sausage to the soup. Chili falls in this category as well.

Chicken Salad: Grilled/poached chicken, grape tomatoes, herbs, and feta, with some brown rice and a vinagrette. Any variation on this them works...you can use quinoa, rice, noodles, or a bed of arugula if you want no carbs, add chopped protein and vegtable, drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with herbs and cheese.

Today I have poached chicken, peanuts, chopped apple, basil, and a lime juice olive oil combo....no rice or noodles today, just some butter lettuce.

[Anonymous]

PP here, I know you said you have no time for chicken breast, but try poaching them ahead of time. It's a no brainer. Throw them in a pan, cover with water (and leftover white wine if you have some), add salt and pepper, turn out heat to simmer, done in ten minutes. Do a big batch once a week so you have a few lunches worth in the fridge. Use chicken tenderloin pieces, faster.

[Anonymous]

The September issue of Cooking Light had two grain-based salads that are both delicious:

Waldorf Salad with Steel Cut Oats
Chicken Tabbouleh with Tahini Drizzle

Very filling, lots of protein and fiber!

[Anonymous]

I like to think in terms of world cuisines. So for Italian you could have a tomato, mozzerella (sp?) and basil salad, maybe with some salami.

Greek you could have a feta salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and olives. And maybe some hummus with carrot sticks.

German - potato salad with sauerkraut and cold cooked sausage (or something similar).


You get the idea. This is how I do my son's lunches and it seems to work.

[Anonymous]

Quiche. Load it w/veggies and Make it w/out the crust (works just fine).

[Anonymous]

curried chickpeas, cauliflower or both
chili
bean salad
pulled pork whatever - tacos, sandwich, wrap, with chips

[Anonymous]

I've been into hummus lately. I make a big batch on the weekends, takes only about 5 minutes with the food processor. I cook my own chickpeas but the canned ones are good too - I just prefer cooking myself and stashing in the freezer until I need them. Every day to work I take a small container of the hummus, plus either a whole cucumber cut into slices, or 1/2 cucumber plus 1-2 large carrots, cut into slices. Then just dip the veggies into the hummus -- voila, lots of protein and veggies.

When I first had this I thought it wouldn't be enough food without bread, but actually it's very filling -- sometimes I have an apple or yogurt later but often this is enough to get me through the afternoon.

Recently I tried a variation with white beans instead of chickpeas. That was pretty good too.

[Anonymous]

Costco has started carrying huge bags of edamame that are subdivided into 12 frozen bag. Great for a protein snack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been into hummus lately. I make a big batch on the weekends, takes only about 5 minutes with the food processor. I cook my own chickpeas but the canned ones are good too - I just prefer cooking myself and stashing in the freezer until I need them. Every day to work I take a small container of the hummus, plus either a whole cucumber cut into slices, or 1/2 cucumber plus 1-2 large carrots, cut into slices. Then just dip the veggies into the hummus -- voila, lots of protein and veggies.

When I first had this I thought it wouldn't be enough food without bread, but actually it's very filling -- sometimes I have an apple or yogurt later but often this is enough to get me through the afternoon.

Recently I tried a variation with white beans instead of chickpeas. That was pretty good too.

NP here. This sounds good. Do you cut the cucumber in the morning before work or do it at work?

[Anonymous]

5 guys no bun and lots of toppings