Asklemmy

Kind bar + protein shake

Salad wraps are daily lunch for me. Goes a bit like this, but it's really a loose recipe with whatever I have in the fridge.

1. I'll slice up some:

Salad/cucumber Tomatoes Bell pepper

2. Fry some falafel/halloumi/chicken in a small pan
3. Heat up a tortilla in another pan until it has some color, but not too much or the tortilla will break when rolled
4. Flip tortilla and add whatever cheese I have
5. Put on a plate and garnish with everything
6. Liberal amount of seasoning and hot sauce.
7. Roll up tortilla

I started doing this when I couldn't taste anything with COVID and needed something with texture. Never stopped.

Leftovers or salami+cheese+almonds. It's yummy, satisfying, and can survive a few hours out of the fridge.

In-n-out hamburger w grilled onions, four or five times a week. $3.64

My favorite thing to do is mix diced veggies (green onion, sweet pickles, green pepper, arugula) with hard boiled eggs or flaked tuna, then add diced cheese (mozzarella, cheddar or feta). You can also add grapes, raisins or nuts or sunflower seeds, whatever you like.

When you're ready to eat, mix all of it with a spoon of cream cheese, and put all of the mixture inside a pita bread. It's pretty awesome and satisfying.

Cook rice in rice cooker with two eggs, when it's done I peel eggs and chop up some carrot/cucumber and eat it with Sriracha mayo. Impossible burger on a bun with Sriracha mayo and cucumber and corn chips on the side. Left overs, which are usually pretty good. Sometimes cheese pizza rolls.

I typically put yogurt in a bowl, put granola chunks on top and cut up a banana and put it on top.

Usually a protein, veg, and rice. Could be chicken, or chickpeas, with beans and rice, perhaps. Just that rice bowl variation.

When I still worked my favourite lunch was ramen. I had square plastic clip-top boxes, perfect shape for ramen blocks. Pop in the ramen, sprinkle with the seasoning packet (or seasonings of your choice) and top with whatever veg you have to hand. Sugarsnap peas, baby corn, spring onion (scallions), zucchini, greens, shredded carrot, bell pepper. If you have cooked chicken, add a slice of that. Clip the lid back on.

At lunchtime, open the box, add boiling water to cover the ramen, close the box again and wait for three minutes or so for the ramen to cook. I guess access to boiling water might be tricky in the US - in the UK our staff canteen had a boiling water dispenser for tea-making.

Oatmeal w/ nuts, dried fruit, & honey. Very cheap & good for you.

Microwave basmati rice and Trader Joe’s microwave yellow tadka dal. Addicted to it right now. Sometimes I’ll slice up half a beef sausage or Polska kielbasa, fry that in a pan for a couple minutes and throw it on top along with some sriracha sauce.

Not necessarily specifically a lunch, but a consistent midday meal that I have is a sort of fruit-yogurt-granola bowl. The fruit is just maybe a cup of assorted berries, then 3/4 cup of plain yogurt, then 3/4 cup of homemade granola — consisting of various nuts, raisins, oats, etc. and some maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla extract mixed in for flavor.

For breakfast I eat an avocado toast — whole avocado, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice mixed together into a paste and spread on a piece of toasted whole-wheat bread — and scrambled eggs — I melt half a tablespoon of butter, or so, in a pan, and briefly sautée a tablespoon, or so, of diced red onion, them add two eggs into the pan, which I scramble in the pan for 30s, or so, then season with salt, and pepper on top.

I just pan fry eggs, chicken, shrimp, or fish with onions and garlic. Chop some tomatoes in and eat with rice. It's alright

I have been addicted to making ramen eggs (ajitama) for lunches lately. I eat one or two eggs over rice with some furikake or toasted seaweed and that's all I need to power through the day. You could pair the dish with more veggies or a miso soup if you're feeling fancy. The nice part is making half a dozen eggs squares me away for the week, so I hardly have to think about what to do.

Another dish I like is Korean steamed eggs (gyeranjjim). It takes not even 10 mins to cook on the stove. Making rice takes longer, and you can make a lot of rice to reheat later in the week. I would cook the eggs fresh each day though , I'm not sure how reheating them would go. The broth that goes with the eggs keeps me fuller than I ever expect.

Baba ghanoush is so tasty when you make it yourself. This requires more effort up front to roast the eggplant, but the dip is good all week. I eat it with carrots, cucumber, cauliflower, and some pita chips.

Regular tuna salad or this chickpea "tuna" salad is always easy to whip up. I always have celery, pickles, and bread on hand so if I'm feeling up for it, I crack open a can of tuna or chickpeas for an easy lunch.

Tuna salad in a Romain lettuce bowl. Some broccoli and almonds or walnuts on the side and a sparkling water

I've been drinking a Soylent shake for lunch at work for probably two years now. It's very convenient, nutritious, and you can have it at room temp or chilled. If you buy it by the case, that amounts to a cheap and healthy lunch. Yes, I find it quite filling.

Edit: Also it comes in different flavors. The ones I remember are strawberry (my favorite), vanilla, chocolate, banana, and mint chocolate. They also have high-protein and caffeinated varieties.

Another edit to clarify my own experience: I've been drinking the shakes for lunch for about 2 years but I've been enjoying Soylent for longer than that. I've included a scoop of the powder in my breakfast for the past 10 years. My doctor is quite happy with my health and my last blood work results (June '23). I only share this because someone has a problem with my suggestion of Soylent and claims it's not good for you. So there is my own experience, for what it's worth. YMMV.

I'm someone who doesn't mind repetition/eating leftovers.

So I would swap between leftovers, and then my quick lunch would be 2 hardboiled eggs, some babybel or string cheese, and then some kind of fruit.

Minimal cooking, easy clean up, easy to take with you.

2 eggs, 2 cheese, and a banana is surprisingly filling.

If I'm at home, udon noodle soup: just vegetable stock cube in a pot of water, boil it, chuck the noodles in, chuck in whatever you want to put in the soup (I just chop up tofu and one vegetable of my choice), boil for a few mins, and it's done. Put Laoganma on to serve. Obviously use whatever other noodles you prefer if you have a preference other than udon. Takes like 15 mins total and it's so simple for something that's an actual full meal. I don't take it with me when I'm on the go though, as it's hard to carry a bowl of noodle soup with you.

For something you can take with you on the go, I've been making this vegan smoked tofu carbonara recipe lately. You'll still need a microwave to heat it up once it's lunchtime, unless you want to eat cold spaghetti for lunch, but it's really tasty, especially the tofu.

I make a chickpea/garbanzo bean spread:

(1) 15oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I also take the skins off but that's optional) (1) tbsp of Nutritional yeast (.5) tsp garlic powder (.5) tsp onion powder (.5) tsp salt (1) tbsp lemon juice (.5) tbsp dijon mustard (.5) cup of mayo (any mayo works)

Optional: 1 nori sheet (seaweed adds a fishy flavor)

Instructions: smash everything together with a fork in a bowl until mixed or use a food processor/blender to puree, it should have the consistency of a cheese spread or dip. Serve on anything and keep refrigerated for up to 5 days

I cook large batches of stew every now and then, freeze in 2 or 3 portion packages. Then each sunday I prep some carbs, defrost and pasteurize stew and put it all together. Boom! Lunches ready to go into the work microwaves.

Cup of noodles is easy and light

One time I made a big batch of gas station style frozen burritos. Just cheese, refried beans, diced tomatoes, and some seasoning and hot sauce. Those were pretty bomb.

I make a week of lunches all at once. I have 12 hour shifts so it's kinda breakfast and lunch that I snack on through the day. I get everything from Aldi so it's pretty cheap too.

Baby carrots, honeycrisp apple, light string cheese, yogurt, and a sandwich containing lunch meat and cheese and mayo. Recently, I started fridge pickling jalapeños for my sandwiches too, and that was the right call. I have this pretty much every day. I was broke af when I was younger, so eating the same thing every day vs maybe not getting to eat... I learned to really appreciate getting consistent meals even if it's not something different very often. It's not for everybody and I understand if this doesn't sound remotely appealing to you lol.

keep some washed fruit around i like to have some oranges or a bowl of grapes or something at my desk to pick on over the course of the day. sometimes ill make oat balls or just keep some sunflower seeds out too for extra protein

I have a sandwich on whole wheat bread with some cheese, one pickle and a conservative amount of mayonnaise spread on the side that touches the pickle. Its been the same on average 3 times a week for 2 years.

I normally eat omelette and rice for lunch, with rice pre made from the night before but you can always quicken with packet rice if you don’t have the time to cook rice and pre mix eggs to quicken the preparation time and just add the seasonings you normally add to the omelette.

5 min in the morning making, a sandwich, usually ham or turkey, and 2 sticks of string cheese.

Healthy.... Not the best but definitely better than a hot dog or burger. Especially with whole wheat bread and not going overboard on condiment.