Since I often have a very limited amount of time to swing by our house, let Sadie out and fix myself a quick meal during my lunch break, I’ve found myself throwing a bunch of stuff in a bowl and calling it lunch more often than not these days.
But I am loving it!
Salads are obviously easy and often quite healthy, but I’ve found myself veering away from a traditional salad most days. (Except for yesterday. Ha!)
Over the course of the past month or two I’ve had a go-to checklist running through my head that I follow whenever I am hungry at lunchtime and don’t know what I want to eat. The end result is always a delicious and satisfying meal. (This meal is also really easy to prep the night before and bring to work with me when I can’t make it home at noon.)
I owe this lunchtime inspiration to Anne’s previous “How To Make a Quick Healthy Weeknight Dinner” post!
First, I start with a base of cooked brown rice, quinoa, wheat berries or barley. (I often cook a big batch of one or two of these on Sundays to eat during the week.)
Top with a handful of leafy greens or chopped vegetables such as spinach or broccoli.
Add a sprinkling of cooked beans (black beans or edamame are a personal favorite). Sometimes I’ll add lentils in place of beans and I love that flavor combination, too!
Then I add a source of protein. (I used a black bean veggie burger in today’s lunch but my favorite protein sources are hardboiled eggs, shrimp, veggie burgers or shredded chicken. )
Top with sliced avocado and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Then finish it off with a drizzle of olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette or Green Goddess dressing!
Such an easy meal but it’s incredibly satisfying and since there are a ton of different flavor combinations, I haven’t found myself getting sick of it yet. Thank you to Anne for inspiring a large number of the lunches I’ve enjoyed so far this year!
Question of the Afternoon
- What is your favorite go-to meal when you’re in a hurry?
In addition to the above meal, I’ve found myself eating oatmeal topped with almond butter and fresh berries at lunchtime on occasion when I need to eat something fast and don’t want to put a lot of thought into my meal.
Leave a Reply