Lunch hour is a time of the day when you are likely to find no one in the house because parents are at work while the kids in school. Deciding what you will have for lunch when you are away from your home can be a challenging decision. You cannot always rely on buying food from food vendors or restaurants nearby because it will be costly in the long run.
This is why people opt to carry their lunch when going to work and also pack lunch for their kids. However, deciding on what you will packing for lunch or cooking if you are at home is difficult. You do not always want to pack a sandwich every day because it can be monotonous.
Luckily, there are some easy recipes you can try for a healthy lunch. These recipes have a short preparation and cooking time of less than 30 minutes, making them convenient to prepare in the morning before leaving the house.
1. Greek Box Lunch.
You can carry a healthy box lunch wherever you go. The meal is healthy if you are trying to watch your weight or avoiding certain foods due to health reasons. Your box lunch will consist of brown rice, a Greek salad, and either red or green grapes.
The Greek salad contains chopped cherry tomatoes, chopped cucumber, black and green olives, freshly chopped parsley, chickpeas, pepper, and extra virgin oil. You can fry or boil the brown rice and then pack the meal in your lunch box and add a lemon wedge on top. Unlike white rice, brown rice has health benefits such as lowering your cholesterol levels and promoting digestion.
2. Salmon pasta salad.
This meal is healthy for you because it has a low-calorie content of 427 Kcal in each serving. For this meal, you need whole-wheat penne, grated garlic, chopped shallot, olives, zested and juiced lemon, red pepper, skinless salmon, capers, and olive and rapeseed oil.
Cook the pasta as you usually do, shallow fry the salmon using rapeseed oil, garlic, and pepper, and then make the salad. To make the salad, start by adding the lemon juice and zest, olives, capers, shallot, and olive oil to a bowl and mix the contents. Add the drained pasta, fried salmon, and further mix them.
3. Garlic butter shrimp zucchini noodles.
Why eat regular noodles when you spice them up? This noodle salad is healthy and also finger-licking. Cook the zucchini noodles using butter, garlic, salt, and pepper. Set it aside and cook the shrimp using butter, garlic, shallot, salt, and pepper. After the shrimp is cooked, add chopped parsley and lemon zest and serve it with the noodles.
4. Barbecue rainbow beef salad.
Grilling your beef is one of the healthiest ways to cook it. It ensures that your food has a low content of calories. This meal has a total calorie content of 281 Kcal in each serving. The ingredients for this tasty meal include fat trimmed steak, lime juice, grated garlic, sesame oil, lettuce, low-salt soy sauce, grated ginger, thinly sliced radish, onions, sesame seeds, sliced carrots, sliced red chili peppers, sliced cucumbers, and sliced avocados.
Prepare the salad before grilling the steak by mixing the sliced chilies, lime juice, ginger, garlic, soy, and oil in a bowl. After cooking the steak, cut it into slices and place it on top of the radishes, sliced carrots, lettuce leaves, onions, avocado, and cucumber arranged on a plate. Sprinkle the salad dressing on top of the steak and use sesame seed and chili peppers as garnish.
5. Black beans quinoa burritos.
Vegetarians will love this meal for its ease in cooking and delicious taste. To make the filling, put oil in a pan, add sliced onions, jalapeno, and garlic, then add red peppers and zucchini after 3-5 minutes. Add tomatoes, corn, black beans, quinoa, cilantro, and top with paprika and cumin. When the filling is ready, fill in the burritos, and you are ready to go. This meal is healthy, easy to pack for your lunch, and can be stored in the freezer.
