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.
We’ve got a fix for that – we happen to make a lot of lunches for our clients and even companies here in Fort Worth 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 which is what we are trying to show you with these easy-to-make recipes that can be created the day before or day of without going bad!
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. Chef Victor’s 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. 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 vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp- sesame seeds
- 3 pats of butter
- 2 cups Chef Victor’s teriyaki sauce ( See recipe below)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Chef Victor’s Teriyaki Sauce:
Ingredients:
- 3 cups oz. soy sauce
- 2 bananas
- 1 red apple peeled, cored and 1 inch diced
- 2 cup cantaloupe
- 1 tbsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
Directions:
1. In a medium sauce pan add all ingredients.
2. Set on low and bring to a slow simmer and reduce. About 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 the largest heaviest pan, put your heat on high (note: pan needs to be HOT!)
2. Add vegetable 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 soy sauce, 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
Ingredients:
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, the juice of
- 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. I
- 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
- Herbs of your choice, finely chopped
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 Central Market 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 loko like a hearty lunch, you’d be surprised how filling two or three of these are!
You can get the recipe to this refreshing vegan lunch here.
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
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 (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. Here’s the kind that we like to use.
- 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!
Is cooking not really your thing? We are running a back to school special where you can receive 25% off your customized meal delivery service – which can means you will have lunches you can take to the office, or pack for your kids. The possibilities are endless!
