Lunches to take to work?

[jewels_vancouver]

Inspired by one of the prevoius posts, what are some good lunches to take to work? Something different. I dont ususally make sandwiches beacuse I think they get "soggy" by the time I eat my lunch.

I have a limited regime so far but this is what I do make:
Roasted Red Peppers stuffed with Italian Tuna/Capers
Croissants with Dilled Chicken Salad
Spinach Salad with Bacon and Goat Feta
Cucumber Salad with Mint and Goat Feta
Chicken Enchiladas with Black Beans and Mexican Rice

For Snacks:
Banana, Apple and Provalone and Crackers.
Hardboiled Egg and Crackers

[dubedo]

I'm a big fan of making a large amount of some sort of cold salad on Sunday, then eating that for lunch all week. Some of my favorites:

Quinoa salad with dried cranberries, pecans, edamame, and balsamic (maybe some minced garlic).
I've also had a good quinoa salad with mango and shrimp.
Pasta salad with tomatoes, olives, and feta.
Any of these can be served over greens. I'll also marinate and bake some tofu chunks and toss them into whatever salad I have going.
If you make roasted vegetables for dinner (cauliflower, sweet potatoes etc.) you can make some extra and toss them into salads for lunch.

[swissgirl]

I use the Lipton rice sides as a base and add vegetables, black beans, veggie chicken, tofu, etc, depending on the flavor. I usually fill out the Lipton rice with plain brown rice and find I have enough for 3 days worth of lunches.

I also like Progresso Lentil soup. I add some diced tomatoes, and a little cheese and split the can into two servings.

One of the above and a cup of yogurt for one lunch is pretty filling, inexpensive and easy to get ready on a Sunday, ready for the work week.

[sandih727]

Oh yeah, I also like to put frozen turkey meatballs in a plastic tub, top them with sundried tomato alfredo sauce. By lunch time, I nuke 'em for a couple of minutes and it's like gourmet lasagna. So dang good.

[sandih727]

I grind up the imitation crab in a meat grinder and add a sesame soy sauce with a little wasabi. I put this in premeasured 2 oz containers, or serve it on a bed of heated up brown rice. It's so dang yummy. Like a sushi roll without the hassle.

[liveforfood]

Lots of yummy suggestions here. I am always pressed for time getting my son ready for school and all. But what I do sometimes is keep a bag of organic, pre-washed, mixed greens in the fridge for salad, put some in a tupperware bowl, then toss in some sliced cukes, grape tomatos, pitted calamatas, sliced redbell pepper, and some good feta. I leave a mini bottle of olive oil and some salt and pepper at work, and bring a half of a lemon to make a dressing on the spot. I don't even mix the dressing--just drizzle some oil, sprinkle the S & P, and squeeze the lemon right onto the salad itself. Its works well! I also keep small bottles of sparkling water with citrus essence in my office.

[othervoice]

I used to individualy wrap each side of a sandwich or put into a container. Also, Using a good roll instead of bread.

[Fidget963]

My husband and I make pizza at least every other week. When we do, I double the dough and make calzones to freeze and bring to work at a later date. Usually I stuff them with broccoli, spinach, or mushrooms. If they actually make it into the freezer (instead of being eaten all week long), I take them out in the morning and they are thawed by the time lunch rolls around. We have a toaster oven in my office and I warm them up that way so as not to end up with a too chewy crust.

[cheapskate]

I don't like the way sandwiches get soggy either when you bring them to work. What I've found works well, however, is bringing the ingredients separately and putting them together at work. I wrap up a couple of pieces of toast say, and then wrap separately some pastrami or ham, cheese, etc., whatever you want. Then in a third container I usually bring some salad, part of which I add to the sandwich and the rest I eat from the container. I keep salad dressing on my desk and dress the salad at work also. If you have some homemade soup to bring along, you are basically set.

For snacks I bring yogurt, peanut butter crackers and carrots.

[Janet from Richmond]

My new favorite lunch at work is Goya Black Bean soup (with the red label) over brown rice (I buy the Success rice individual bowls) with sour cream and cheese.

[valerie]

I've been following Weight Watchers and this is a great lunch for me too. I put Amy's Organic black bean & vegetable soup over brown rice and use fat-free sour cream. I usually hate fat-free sour cream (that's why I need Weight Watchers!), but when you mix it in, you can't tell the difference.

[arifa]

indian food reheats wonderfully. put some basmati rice in one of those single-serving, microwaveable, reuseable containers and top with some kind of saucy vegetable. it doesn't even have to be indian. thai and chinese also work great (with appropriate rice).

just pop those in the freezer and grab one each day on your way out. since i'm vegetarian and none of the lunches i bring contain meat, i just leave them on my desk to defrost until lunch and then heat for two to three minutes when it's time.

stews also reheat nicely. nothing reheats like leftover lasagna.

if you're looking for no-heat foods, i'm a fan of bringing a container of mixed vegetables to snack on. cheese and crackers is nice, but a bit indulgent. hrm... yes, this gets a lot more difficult if you assume no microwave. i'd probably do a search for recipes that end with "serve at room temperature."

edited to add: i tried it out and searched on "serve at room temperature" and found this article: http://tomsaaristo.com/roomtemp.html about sineibe who decided to look for recipes for room termperature food for work =

)

edited once more to add: hummus and pita is nice, as is quinoa salad (or wheatberry salad or any other kind of cold grain salad).

[Kitchen Queen]

I made today, smoked turkey (for me) and roast beef (for hubby) rolled in a low carb lavosh w/ a liitle mustard and a little mayo -YUM. (took them for our after hike picnic). I also like smoked turkey wrapped around apple slices. I accompany w/light Baby Bel cheese.Small salad carrots are nice sometimes too. Just a few for the crunch and sweetness.

[jewels_vancouver]

^that sounds good...do the apples turn brown tho?

[Kitchen Queen]

I don't mind if they do a little. You can squirt w/ a little citrus on them to keep from getting brown.

[Mel]

i love spicy peanut noodles... ina's recipe is great (made it today, but used only 1/2 the oil) and sometimes I will throw in some chicken for my protein

any left overs from dinner.

[spigot]

Assuming you have access to a microwave, it's hard to beat leftover risotto :-)