Video - Menu Ideas: 3 Tasty Healthy Lunches

Mmmm...watching this will make you hungry!  This great video demonstrates 3 healthy and delicious lunch ideas using all fresh, natural ingredients - packed with flavor and nutrition, these are all easy lunches to take with you to work, school, or on the go. If you use pre-cooked chicken that you made ahead of time, there is no cooking involved in making these lunches, so they're great for summer, or anytime you're in a hurry or just don't feel like cooking.

Each lunch includes a wrap, a dessert, and a drink - all fresh and super healthy! Check this out for some awesome ideas for healthy foods you can take with you on the run.

Healthy School Lunches! Delicious Recipes for Everyday
Like it? Pin it! pinterest.com You'll be the envy of your friends when you unwrap these amazingly delicious lunches! So good you won't even realize how healthy they are. Great for school, college, work, or on the go. Prepare the ingredients a day ahe...

Five Delicious, Healthy, Meat-Free Sandwich Ideas

Looking to cut back on your meat consumption, reduce your grocery bill, or just eat healthier?  These five healthy, meat-free sandwiches are ideal for the grab and go lunch - whether you're a vegetarian, going meat-free for a week, or doing a detox.  Pack them for work or take them on a picnic.  They’re quick, easy and really delicious. (You might want to print this out for future reference!)

#1:  Veggie Reuben Sandwich
Ingredients:

* Sauerkraut
* Russian dressing
* 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, optional
* 12 slices tempeh bacon
* 1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
* 8 slices rye bread
* 12 slices dill pickle
* 2 cups grated Swiss cheese (8 ounces)
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler to low. 
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook the tempeh in batches as needed, until crispy golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels. 
3. Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. Place pieces, buttered side down, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Spread some of the Russian dressing on the sides facing up. Evenly lay the pickles, tempeh, sauerkraut, and cheese.
4. Place the open faced sandwiched under the broiler and cook until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the broiler. Close sandwiches, return to the broiler and toast sandwich, turning once so both sides get nice and golden brown, about 2 minutes total.  Enjoy hot out of the oven or wrap in foil and take with you for later in the day.

#2:  Grilled Veggie and Goat Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 2 zucchini, ends trimmed and discarded, sliced lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
* 2 Japanese eggplants, ends trimmed and discarded, sliced lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
* Baguette or thick bread, sliced in 1/2 lengthwise
* 1 cup (6 1/2 ounces) goat cheese, at room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups baby spinach

Directions:

1. Place a grill pan over medium-high heat
2. Mix together the olive oil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, salt, and pepper. 
3. Place 2 tablespoons of the mixture in a medium bowl. Add the zucchini and eggplant and toss until coated. 
4. Place the vegetables on the grill pan or grill and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side until tender.
5. While vegetables are cooking, spread the olive oil mixture on the baguette halves or bread slices.  Spread goat cheese over the olive oil mixture. Place the cooked vegetables on the bottom half of the baguette. Arrange the spinach on top of the vegetables. Place the top half of the baguette or bread over the filling and enjoy!

#3:  Cinnamon Nut & Banana Sandwiches

Ingredients:

* unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1/2-inch thick slices bread
* 1/4 cup sugar combined with 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
* 1 jar chocolate hazelnut spread like Nutella 
* 2 ripe bananas, sliced 1/4-inch thick
* 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts, toasted

Directions:

1. Heat griddle or non-stick pan over medium heat.
2. Spread one side of bread with butter and place on griddle, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture, and flip; cook for a few seconds so cinnamon sugar sticks.
3. Flip bread back over and spread with nut spread. Place sliced bananas on top and combine slices to make a sandwich(s).  This mixture makes 4 sandwiches.  Cook until warm and gooey and enjoy - the kids will love this one!

#4:  Spicy Thai Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

* ¼ cup lime juice
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 2 teaspoons chili paste, like sambal oelek
* 2 teaspoons fish sauce
* 2 cups roasted peanuts or cashews, roughly chopped
* 2/3 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
* 12 Bibb lettuce leaves
* 3 cups diced pineapple – fresh is better
* Kosher salt

Directions:

1. Whisk the lime juice, sugar, chili paste, and fish sauce in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Add the peanuts and cilantro and stir.
2. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large platter. Put about 1/4 cup of pineapple in each leaf and season with salt to taste. Top the pineapple with the nut mixture.
3. Wrap and enjoy.

#5:  Ricotta, Spinach, and Artichoke Sandwich

Ingredients:

* 10 ounces fresh spinach
* 1 loaf ciabatta bread, 
* Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
* 2 cups ricotta cheese
* 2 cloves garlic, chopped
* 3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, a handful
* 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
* 1 can artichokes, drained and sliced
* Salt and pepper
* 2 cups shredded mozzarella

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Toast bread in oven for 5 minutes. Remove and cut in half, end to end.
3. Turn broiler on. 
4. Drizzle hot bread with extra-virgin olive oil. 
5. Combine ricotta, garlic, parsley and grated cheese. Spread the mixture evenly over the bread halves then cover with chopped spinach. Evenly distribute the sliced artichokes, season the breads with salt and pepper and top with an even layer mozzarella cheese. 
6. Melt the cheese under the broiler 3 minutes, 1 rack down from the top of the oven. Cut into sandwich-sized wedges and enjoy hot, or wrap and enjoy cold later. 

Recipe - Easy Summer Black Bean Burritos

I've been pretty much living on these for the past couple of weeks!  They're just so easy, delicious, fast, and really don't require any cooking - they are perfect for a quick summer lunch or even dinner. The only thing is - they're so simple I almost hesitate to use the word "recipe"!  :-)

But here it is - a quick, healthy, tasty, and minimal-effort weeknight dinner perfect for those summer evenings when you just don't feel like cooking. This can also be a fun one for the kids -  let them pick their own fillings, and help assemble them - it will give them a sense of ownership of their food, and encourage them to eat some veggies!

Easy Summer Black Bean Burritos: (Makes 4; May be adjusted as needed.) 

Ingredients (feel free to mix it up and add your own!):
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (or 1 1/2 cups cooked black beans - easy to cook ahead and refrigerate until needed - and feel free to substitute other types of beans!)
Several leaves fresh lettuce, rinsed and torn
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup salsa
4 large (burrito size) flour tortillas
1 cup diced tomatoes (optional)
1/3 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
3 TB slivered sweet or red onion (optional)
1/3 cup shredded cheese (optional; cheddar, monterey jack, or colby are all good choices, or even crumbled feta)
Salt, to taste

Instructions:
1. Heat tortillas in toaster oven or dry skillet on low-medium heat until warm and flexible.
2. Heat beans in microwave about 30 seconds (or just leave them cold - they are good this way too).
3. Place tortillas on plates, divide beans evenly among them, spreading along the center. Add lettuce, other toppings as desired, and spoon salsa and sour cream over the top. Add a sprinkle of salt if desired.
4. Wrap tortillas around fillings and eat!

These have slivered sweet onions, & lettuce & cilantro from my garden.

Feel free to be creative with these!  I listed a few optional suggestions above. I have had them both with and without any of these optional ingredients - they are always good. Feel free to try different herbs, cheeses, and other condiments. Corn could also be a good addition, and maybe olives? If you want to get really crazy, sprinkle with a dash of cumin, chili powder, or another seasoning. Your options are really limited only by your imagination, and what you have on hand.

Make up your own version, and of course come back and let us know how it turns out!

Video - Healthy Lunch Salad Wrap

Here is a video demonstrating a quick and healthy wrap that is great to take to the office for a tasty and healthy lunch. This is basically a vegetarian salad wrap. You could of course add some shredded grilled chicken or other meat, or, to keep it veggie, throw in some beans. Canned beans are very convenient for this sort of thing, or you can also cook some from scratch ahead of time, and keep in a jar in the fridge - they make a great and filling addition to just about any lunch. (Black beans would go great with the Southwest theme in the video.)

And check back to our salad dressings week on this blog for some great dressing ideas to go in your wrap!

A Healthy Office Lunch Wrap
This badly lit video will show you in a few minutes just how many raw veggies you can cram into a delicious, simple and healthy lunch wrap. If you brown bag your office or school lunch, this is a great way to get your salad!



More Healthy Lunch Ideas:
    

Healthy Lunch Ideas

Here are some great ideas for healthy lunches, as well as a couple of recipes. Remember, it may seem like a chore at first to pack a lunch every day, but once you get in the habit of it, it will just be another thing you do to prepare for the day. If you are rushed in the morning, try preparing your lunch the night before, or, if you cook a large quantity of something, do like I do, and package the Image via Wikipedialeftovers in several individual lunch-sized portions - then you can just grab a container in the morning and go! (This is also great for those of us who like to sleep in.) :-)

Check out these healthy and easy from-scratch lunches:

The True Definition of a Healthy Lunch | Hoalian
Packing lunch from home is a good idea. However, we have lunch in the morning which is usually under pressure in our time, this interferes with our opinion in choosing a healthy meal. What makes up a healthy lunch? ...
Publish Date: 04/20/2011 18:45
http://www.hoalian.com/healthy-food/the-true-definition-of-a-healthy-lunch/

Healthy Lunch Recipes - Cooking Light
Pack a healthy lunch everyday with our easy recipes for sandwiches, salads, soups, and more.
Publish Date: 08/13/2009 3:00
http://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/healthy-lunch-recipes-00412000071083/

Everyday Gyaan: Everyday Food: Sangeeta's Healthy Lunch
Everyday Food: Sangeeta's Healthy Lunch. Our wonderful chef is back with a healthy, vegetarian lunch....Yummy stuff! Enjoy! Thanks, again, Sangeeta! You are a star! May you be inspired - everyday! Hello everyone at Everyday Gyaan . ...
Publish Date: 04/14/2011 2:59
http://www.everydaygyaan.com/2011/04/everyday-food-sangeetas-healthy-lunch.html

Healthy lunch ideas for the office | Needofficespace
If you've run out of healthy lunch box ideas and are sick of heading out of the office to grab a deluxe calorie-laden sandwich here are a few simple suggestions to keep you in check.. All the latest news from needofficespace office ...
Publish Date: 04/12/2011 11:25
http://www.needofficespace.com/servicedoffice-blog/healthy-lunch-ideas-for-the-office-8477.html

Quick and Easy Lunches for the Cooking Challenged

Let's face it, cooking is not a top priority in the lives of everyone on the planet. In fact, far too few people have made learning to cook a priority in their lives. This means that we often exist on convenience foods and boxed mixes rather than taking the effort to prepare healthy meals for our families and our own personal enjoyment.


Image via WikipediaThe same holds true for lunches, when we often resort to a can of soup or box of macaroni and cheese or some other such product rather than putting our creative efforts into making a quick and easy yet delicious (and healthy!) lunch. You will see many ideas in this article and the hope is that these ideas will not only get you off to a great start for ending the lunch rut we all seem to find ourselves in at some time or another, but also get you to try new things on your own.

First of all, not all great lunches require actual cooking in order to prepare. Some of them will need no cooking whatsoever, while others may require the use of the microwave, and some of them will need to be cooked or at least prepared before-hand and reheated. But the choices are virtually limitless once you understand the creative concept that must be in place. You should also find that many of these ideas are so simple you will wonder why on earth you have never thought of them.

Try lettuce wraps: These make delightfully delicious lunch treats and the filling can be prepared ahead of time, which leaves only reheating the filling and wrapping when you're ready to eat. This is a fun lunch to share with your little Image by Portrait Artist - Enzie Shahmiri via Flickrones and it teaches them that lettuce is much more versatile than people often give it credit for. Some people choose to go with a teriyaki or Asian-inspired filling; some like taco-like fillings for their lettuce rolls. You are free to come up with a favorite filling of your very own, so have fun, and get creative!

Try sandwiches with different breads. Some children have a little difficulty with thick or crusty bread. Instead, try perhaps something like Hawaiian sweet rolls. Just put the meat, cheese, mustard, and pickle in the roll as if it were a bun. Other great ideas include hollowing out crusty rolls and filling them with roast beef and cheddar. You can broil this in your oven for a few minutes for a rare sandwich treat. The cooking part is very minimal and you do not have to have in depth knowledge of anything to prepare or enjoy these simple treats.

Other good bread ideas include croissants with ham and cheese or chicken salad, taco pitas (another great favorite in our household), and paninis (this works really well if you have a George Foreman grill or a panini press).

While this is by no means the end-all-be-all guide to cooking quick and easy lunches it is good food for thought. The hope is that this will get your own creative juices flowing so that you can prepare wonderful lunches for your family without needing to do more heavy cooking than you have or want to.

We'd love to hear your own ideas for quick and easy lunches (particularly ones the kids like), so please feel free to post these for our other readers to benefit from!

Related articles on Fast, Easy Lunch Ideas:

• School Lunch Ideas: Nutritious Lunches For Kids (lifescript.com)
• From Last Night's Dinner To Today's Lunch: Add Taste, Save Cash (mint.com)
• Simple Strategies for Using Your Leftover Food (wisebread.com)
• Healthy, No Cook, Easy Meals (healthadel.com)
• 7 Healthy Lunch-Box Favorites (lifescript.com)