Ahead of time, prepare dips or spreads for quick and easy wraps. For the wraps, use sprouted grain wraps, lettuce, collard green leaves or nori.
Make hummus, bean dips, egg salad, mushroom walnut pate, tofu salad or a green salad to wrap.
Make a simple dressing of olive oil and lemon or vinegar to drizzle on top and make it more interesting (see recipe for walnut, apple, spinach salad).
Apple and natural peanut, almond butter, sunflower or cashew butter make a very satisfying
and filling lunch. Just slice the apple and put the nut or seed butter on it and eat!
Use the salad jar method to make salads ahead of time. The dressing goes in the bottom of a
wide mouth mason jar then the hard vegetables go next, like carrots, fresh peas, red cabbage,
then the softer vegetables go after that (for example: zucchini, squash, red bell peppers, etc.).
Lastly, add the lettuce so it is on the top. Cap the jar and refrigerate. When you are ready to
eat it, just turn it over into a bowl and you have a ready-made salad! Make a few at a time.
Make grain and bean salads with left over grains or beans. Just add vegetables to quinoa,
brown rice, garbanzo beans or other beans and dress it with a simple olive oil and lemon
dressing (see quinoa salad recipe).
Make vegetable, black bean or salmon burgers ahead of time and freeze for easy lunches.
Pre-make burritos using mashed pinto beans and cooked vegetables such as grated zucchini,
squash and carrot. Freeze for future use and top with avocado, tomato and unsweetened plain
yogurt.
Make chicken, shrimp salad or egg salad and serve with a green salad. Eat on whole grain Wasa
crackers. (see chicken salad recipes)
To make lunches easy on yourself, have all the utensils and condiments you need at your place
of work or in your car. Make a picnic basket type of package so that it is always available to
you. For instance, pack a plate, bowl, knife, fork, spoon, napkins, salt and pepper and any other
type of seasoning or condiment you like. You might even put a pretty table cloth or blanket so
that you are picnic ready at anytime. Lunch then becomes special.
If you do not have a refrigerator in your office, you can purchase an electric cooler than can act
as a small refrigerator. It can also be used for car traveling as it comes with an adapter plug.