Summertime makes healthy eating a little easier. Any time you make dinner, double your recipe so that you can pack something extra for lunch. It’s an easy way to have a delicious, healthy home-cooked meal at work. Vary it up by having different vegetables and proteins every day. Pack a few pieces of fruit, nuts, and veggies to snack on in between meals to help keep you on track. Here are some of the best healthy lunches to bring to work:
1. Sriracha Lime Chicken: Summertime is the perfect time to fire up the grill. The evening before, make extra so that you have plenty of leftovers to pack for lunch. Cut the chicken up into two-inch cubes, and toss them into a bowl of sriracha and fresh lime juice. Skewer the chicken pieces, and grill for about 15 minutes. While those are cooking, grill up your sides to go with it. Grilled pineapple slices, tomatoes, red onions, and tomatoes make for a tasty and beautiful plate. Then, top it all off with half an avocado.
2. Sweet and Sour Broccoli Salad: This recipe is excellent for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. It has good carbs, plenty of protein, and packed with fiber. It’s made with broccoli crowns de-stemmed, sesame seeds, sweet and sour sauce, cashews, sesame oil, and some scallions. To keep it crunchy, you can have the broccoli raw, but if you want it to be a little softer, then steam the broccoli for about 5-7 minutes. Mix all of the ingredients together and chill in the fridge. Pull out of the fridge when you’re ready to eat and enjoy cool.
3. Burrito Bowl: A classic healthy lunch is a Mexican dish. It’s so fresh and packed with flavor, you won’t feel like it’s a “healthy” option. Chop up some lettuce, add in some black beans, rice, diced tomatoes, jalapenos, cut up red peppers and onions, and add your favorite protein. Try some spicy shrimp or a chopped-up flank steak to add some variety. Squeeze a lime over it, toss on some cilantro, and top it with some guacamole. It’s a fiesta in your mouth!
4. Lemon Couscous: A delicious Mediterranean dish that pairs well with anything. A lemon zing is nice and refreshing during the warm summer months. Cook the couscous in chicken broth and lemon juice, add some olive oil, peppers, pine nuts, olives, and salt and pepper to taste. Use it as a side, or as a main dish. Top is with a fresh cut of fish, and twist of lemon on top with some chopped parsley. If you don’t want to be “that person” at the office who brought fish, then have something light like a white wine chicken breast on top with the lemon and parsley garnish. It’s a little more office friendly.
5. Mini Frittatas: These are perfect for snacking on or eating as a meal. Make a bunch and bring them in to graze all day, guilt free. Have a muffin tin, and grease it up. Brown some Mexican chorizo or sausage and add in any vegetables that you like--like spinach, peppers, onions, tomatoes, leeks, or kale. Put some mozzarella in each tin with the veggies and sausage, and then put a scrambled egg mix halfway into each tin. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.
You don’t need to be starving to eat healthy; actually, it’s the opposite. Eat as much as you like of all of the good stuff, so you avoid reaching for the midday candy bar. You won’t be hungry for the breakroom chips after eating your hearty, healthy lunches!
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