Need some healthy food for thought? Make lunchtime the highlight of your day with these easy recipes and #StartBetter
Lunch - the meal that can either make or break our healthy eating New Year’s resolutions. Preparation is key, but after a stressful day, cooking one, let alone two meals doesn’t seem like the most palatable of post-work prospects. Thankfully though, in order to allow us to #StartBetter this year and see our good intentions remain intact, we’re here to help you pack for success with some great lunchtime inspiration.
We asked nutritional therapist and Get The Gloss Expert Vicki Edgson for five tasty, budget-friendly and easy recipes for healthy packed lunch ideas for work to prevent hunger from becoming our diet nemesis. Nutritious, sumptuous and most importantly, snappy, let these salad recipes and meal ideas act as your essential working week menu to keep broken resolutions and dreaded post-lunchtime lulls at bay all year long.
1. Iceberg wrap
Using iceberg lettuce as the bread, fill your wraps with screwed raw vegetables, combined with turkey, sardines or humous. Wrap and roll, then secure with a cocktail stick. Include slow release energy vegetables including white and red cabbage, sprouted pea shoots, mung beans and water cress. You can do this in four minutes!
2. Revitalise vegetable soup
This can be done using vegetables from last night’s meal. Add raw salad leaves including spinach and watercress together with 250ml of vegetable stock, (e.g. Marigold or Kallo ) and pulverise until smooth. Add one small tin of butter beans for added protein and bulk. Heat gently and put into a thermo-flask to take to work.
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3. Salmon and roasted vegetables
One fillet of salmon, (lightly steamed or cooked from the previous night) on a bed of roasted root vegetables including parsnips, carrot, sweet potato and a handful of finely chopped kale. Dress all with good quality extra virgin olive oil and the juice of half a lemon.
4. Harissa marinated chicken breast
Using a good quality, ready mixed Harissa paste (available from good supermarkets), add sliced chicken to a bed of baby spinach, finally chopped raw courgette, cherry tomatoes, half an avocado and one pack of snap peas mixed with one dessert spoon of raw nut oil and the juice of one clementine or satsuma.
5. Vegetable crushie
Take all of your favourite soft vegetables - tomatoes, courgettes, cooked carrots, beetroots and leeks and crush all together in a food processor and finish with raw fennel. Serve with a tablespoon of pine nuts and chopped parsley for a vibrant energy producing new form of soup!
What does your January lunchbox look like? Send us a picture of your #StartBetter inspiration on Instagram using the handles @GetTheGloss and @Clinique_UK .
For some more recipe inspiration, check out Vicki Edgson’s 5:2 recipes for some seriously tasty ideas.
This feature was written in partnership with Clinique . #StartBetter.