Thursday, October 16, 2014

Easy vegan lunches - for home or work

During the week, I rarely spend more than 5 minutes preparing my work lunches. On weekends I do take a little longer, but still favour speedy meals in the middle of the day. I was reflecting recently on how my lunchtime routines have been streamlined and improved over the years, and so I thought...why not post about them? Why not, indeed.

Without further ado, here are some of my favourite lunch options for weekdays and weekends alike.

Cabbage salad with tofu and mango
1. Dinner leftovers.

I know this is only easy if you have dinner leftovers, but at least three weeknights a week I make a little more in the evening and am rewarded with a ready lunch the next morning. Stir fry, homemade pizza, legume dishes...they are all very easy to make a little more of and package up for the next day's lunch.

Dinner leftovers ready for work

Preparation time: All of 10 seconds (pulling a container from the fridge!).


2. Giant salads.

I have a standard formula for my salads, which feature on weekends more commonly than in the week. I take 1 to 2 cups of leafy greens, at least 1 serve of a brightly coloured vegetable (carrot, tomato, pepper, corn...), at least 1 serve of fruit (I like mango, berries, figs and pear), and at least 1 serve of protein or fat (such as tofu or nuts or both). Sometimes I make a nut butter dressing, sometimes I add lemon juice or chilli sauce, and sometimes the salad ingredients are sufficient all on their own.

Lettuce, carrot, sweet corn, radish, strawberries, and tofu

Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how much chopping you need to do.

3. Pita or wrap based meals.

I often combine this option with #1, by using leftover stir fry vegetables or pre-made salad with a pita or wrap bread. I've found that stir fried vegetables work perfectly on top of a pita, especially if drizzled with almond butter. Cooked sweet potato and kale are great in a wrap with hummus. If that sounds too hard, you can pair a pita or wrap with any vegetables you have on hand. Add legumes, tofu, nuts or hummus to the veggies and you have a meal.  

Stir fried cabbage and peppers on top of pita bread, with almond butter

Preparation time: Again, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on what you're starting with.

4. Couscous with veggies and almonds.

This is one of my 'emergency' workday lunches, and as such I tend to keep a packet of plain or flavoured couscous in the cupboard at all times. It takes all of 3 minutes for couscous to cook in hot water, just enough time to chop up whatever vegetables you have available. When the couscous is ready, package it in a container with the vegetables and a handful of almonds. If working with plain couscous, some dried herbs or condiments to taste (soy, apple cider vinegar, chilli sauce...) will make the make the meal more appealing; dried fruit can achieve the same.

Preparation time: 5 minutes if you work efficiently.

5. Nori wraps.

I don't make these as often as I'd like, but they do provide a very easy option and a nice alternative to bread-based wraps. I make mine by spreading the nori sheet with hummus or nut butter, adding salad, and simply rolling up.


Preparation time: Again, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on what you're starting with.

6. Soup and crackers or a roll.

This is another 'emergency' lunch for me. If you have made soup up in advance, you are already set to go. If not, a tin of soup in the cupboard is a good fall back. I always have crackers in the cupboard too, and tend to keep a pack of rolls in the freezer for days I need to round lunch out quickly.

7. Quinoa anything.

If you cook up a batch of quinoa at the start of the week, I think lunch can almost take care of itself. As quinoa combines protein and carbohydrate, it doesn't take much to turn it into a meal. I like to add spices, vegetables and dried fruit, and not much more. If you have legumes to hand, they make a great addition too.

Quinoa with fig and kale


8. Pick and mix items.

Really stuck for time? Grab a vegetable or two (carrot, tomato, pepper, broccoli...), a piece of fruit, some crackers or a roll, and a (non dairy) yogurt. Take the picnic mentality to work, and have a grazing lunch.

If you have items like these to hand, you have a meal
(albeit in this case with store bought items on the go, and from 2012 at that!)

I think most meals are rounded out well by chocolate, so feel free to add your own sweet conclusion to the above too!

The above is not a comprehensive list, but it highlights some of the options that make life easy for me. Obviously some advance preparation is required - cooking things in advance at one end of the scale, and keeping couscous, soup and perhaps legumes in the cupboard at the other. I'd love to hear what works for you with easy lunches too.

What are some of your favourite quick lunch options?

21 comments:

  1. This is good inspiration for me. I am not as prepared about lunches as I used to be before sylvia was born - I used to make a big pot of soup and put tubs of frozen soup in the freezer and take one for lunch at work each day with a piece of toast that I would eat cold. It worked really well but somehow I just don't seem to have the freezer space these days which is probably more a problem than time. I find chopping a few vegies and serving with some dip and bread or crackers works really well for me. Usually on weekends. I love leftovers in sandwiches esp if I roast up some vegies for a dish I sometimes put some aside for lunch. I also used to keep some seasoning at work which was good if I bought in stuff and it needed a lift. I have also had packets of cuppa soup at times which isn't so great but fills the gap on a busy day. I love your lunch ideas - they look really healthy and appetising too.

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    1. Making a big batch of soup and freezing it in portions is something I have always wanted to do. I think I've done it two times :P In part this is due to freezer space being a commodity here too, and in part I just don't love making soup (which sounds terrible to admit but for a simple food there is a lot of chopping and cooking time!). I do love it when I manage it though :)

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  2. A very handy round-up, indeed! I most especially like your salads as you put in everything in order. Great ideas on leftovers, too! Nothing goes to waste :)

    Gourmet Getaways

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    1. Exactly! Minimal effort and minimal waste is definitely a lunch philosophy I think :)

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  3. this is great! It's funny because I became vegan long after I gave up work and I read all these great vegan lunch/lunchbox blogs and kinda wish I had a job just so I could make all that awesome food and show off to colleagues :P

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    1. Teehee...and I am sure all of us heading off to work would like to stay home and eat with a full kitchen to hand ;)

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  4. Some brilliant ideas here! I would have homemade soup daily if I could but unfortunately I don't have a microwave at work. I eat a lot of leftovers from the night before though.

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    1. Not having a microwave at work is a challenge - I've lived without one at home, but think I've always had the option at work. It sounds like you cope well with leftovers though :)

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  5. Great post Kari! I literally have 5 mins to pack a lunch for Lil' L in the mornings and, more often than not, I use leftovers either stuffed into pitta breads or wraps. Leftover pasta's another great one, which I gently warm through and tip into a wide necked flask for him. This time of year, he also likes to take soup once a week. On the very rare occasion that we don't have any leftovers, I quickly stir fry some red pepper, chestnut mushrooms, courgette & seeds in a little soy sauce, and fill two pittas for him. It's one of his faves!

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    1. It sounds like Lil'L and I share lunch tastes :) I love your quick stir fry option.

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  6. A giant salad is always the way to go for a healthy lunch I think. It is a good way to use up whatever is left in the fridge as well!

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    1. Definitely! I don't tend to manage it on weekday mornings, but love that route on weekends :-)

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  7. You eat very well, Kari. I usually try to make enough dinner so there will be some leftovers and that tends to be what I'll have for lunch. Working from home, I'm fortunate in that the fridge and pantry are just a few steps away xx

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  8. These vegan recipes sound tasty. My daughter is a vegan and she is going to be visiting next week. I want to be sure that I have food around the house that she can eat.

    Susan Hirst | http://www.grettamoss.com/blog/recipes

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    1. Hopefully you have been able to find some ideas :-) I'm sure she'll be happy if you have tofu and legumes on hand - and perhaps some dairy free chocolate as that always goes down well!

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  9. Love these speedy meal ideas - woohoo for giant salads and quinoa anything! I'm a fan of prepping a few things early in the week (cook some quinoa, chop a whole heap of vegetables) and then just throwing together whatever looks/tastes good together. These suggestion will definitely help me broaden my approach together - great idea to round out my meal selections with a bit of chocolate too ;)

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    1. I think chocolate rounds most things out very well indeed :-)

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  10. You've probably guessed, but I have homed in on the salad with the mango - yum!

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    1. And you are edging ever closer to mango season!

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  11. Unfortunately when I make "extras" my husband just thinks that means he gets to have more dinner, so there are rarely leftovers at our place. And when there are I give them to him to take since I work at home anyway. I have to prepare leftout only one day a week and usually my lunches are big salads so it's easy enough anyway. I also like to finish each meal with something sweet but for me a date will surfice! :)

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