Vegetarian packed lunch.

raah! · 17-01-2009 2:52am #1

Would anyone be able to reccommend any easy to make, and filling vegetarian packed lunches that even a "man of leisure" such as myself could make?.

I've tried bringing in apples and bananas, but they never seem to fill me up, and then I am forced to spend my precious money on cafeteria food. It costs a good 10 euros it does!

Also, if possible, nothing too outlandish, I am a new vegetarian and I don't know if everything is palletable just yet. (although it probably is, I've been forcing myself to eat all sorts of things)

Anyway, I had one idea, kidney bean sandwiches, but that sounds stupid, so any advice would be helpful.

sweet-rasmus · 17-01-2009 10:41am

Fruit salads or veg salads are easy to make and bring along. Sandwiches can't be ingored - you have endless possibilities there.

Rancid · 17-01-2009 11:06am

You'll probably find sandwiches more filling, keep the fruit for snacks between brekkie and lunch and lunch and dinner.
You can't beat a sandwich generously filled with hummus, and whatever salad stuff you like, tomato, lettuce, onion, etc.

Just Wholefoods do an almost instant mix of Organic CousCous and Lentils.
It takes about 4 or 5 mins to make and it's great hot or cold and it's pretty filling.
It's even great in a sandwich with hummus, tbh!
It's in most of the Nourish shops in Dublin.

I-like-eggs,mmm · 17-01-2009 6:36pm

The hummus sandwiches are always a great, satisfying idea!

There's always yummy "basil or olive tofu" which you can pick up at most health shops in the city. Lovely in a pita bread with salad of your choice.

Oooor... you could make a yummy pasta salad & bring it for lunch. I do this myself for work and definitely save loads and at least you will know exactly what you're eating

You could make the sauce from scratch but... I have an easy peasy version you could throw together yourself.

*Boil up chopped carrots. Add other veggies if you fancy. I pick carrots as I love them.. When they're cooked, add a tin of whatever beans you like(for protein), I recommend "butter beans" as they're yummy yum yum:D

*Boil up some pasta in another pot.

*Get a jar of whatever pasta sauce you fancy(there's some nice ones in most health shops). Mix it all up with veg and pasta.

That sound easy peasy enough? It's delicious if you can manage it

You could freeze portions, so you can take them out the night before work and not have to worry about what to bring for your lunch!

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5 · 17-01-2009 6:42pm

It's pretty hard to beat a peanutbutter sammich imo. Or, if you eat dairy, an avocado and cream cheese sandwich is delicious!

Fruit won't fill you though, you need something more substantial, even a little bag of nuts will go a long way towards warding off hunger. Or bring crackers, rice cakes that sort of stuff. Dried fruit is good too

biZrb · 17-01-2009 8:46pm

I usually make a big dinner the night before and use half of it for lunch the next day.
Or you could have a veggie burger/sausage with salad in a sambo.
You can buy fake meat slices in health food shops that are perfect for sambos.
And theres loads you can do with cheese!

taram · 17-01-2009 10:05pm

My usuals:
*giant fruit salad, bag of popcorn
*cucumber, little bit of spring onion, chopped tomatoes, feta cheese and olives and I buy a crusty bread roll on the way to work and stuff it with them
*smoked gouda with chopped onions and tomatoes in a bagel (I usually buy a bag of onion ones in M&S, just take one out the night before to defrost, then toast it when making breakfast and throw it in my bag.
*phildelphia little tubs and tons of raw carrots/celery/cucumber, krispbreads, bag of popcorn
*some people don't like it but cold veggie pizza or two cold panni with very different fillings, like one could be italian (basil, mozzarella, olives, tomatoes, courgette) and the other mexican (black eyed beans, onions, tomatoes, cheese), you can do these very quickly in a sandwich maker, most are delicious cold.
*salads of course are a lifesaver, plenty of varied reciepes out there, are usually very quick to make and cheap

Invest in some tupperware too

will make it a lot easier for you.

Just keep varying what you bring, I made a week's worth of pasta once and was sick of it by wed, enjoy saving a fortune each week and having food that's the envy of other people probably

sunshine rose · 17-01-2009 11:04pm

Something that I've recently starting doing is spreading some hummus on rice cakes and sprinkling some hemp seeds and alfalfa shoots on top. It's lovely! Obviously you need more for lunch but it's quick and easy to throw together any time you feel a bit peckish.:pac:

sweet-rasmus · 18-01-2009 2:09pm

Great post full of ideas taram! You should post here more often

taram wrote:

*smoked gouda with chopped onions and tomatoes in a bagel (I usually buy a bag of onion ones in M&S, just take one out the night before to defrost, then toast it when making breakfast and throw it in my bag.

I recommend freezing the packet of bagels and taking one out the night before - i did this all last week and it was a great filler.

*some people don't like it but cold veggie pizza

Cold pizza, especially home made, is delicious! Must do this again soon...

Invest in some tupperware too will make it a lot easier for you.

Precisely - pick sizes that fit well into your bag. And if in fear of leakage, put the lunch box into a ziplock bag - saves you in the event of a disaster with leftover dinners.

Just keep varying what you bring, I made a week's worth of pasta once and was sick of it by wed

I did this with roast veg (spuds, carrot, parsnip) with gravy once and have a little tub frozen for each day. It ruined the meal for me and I couldn't cook it for myself again for months!

raah! · 19-01-2009 1:00am

Thanks for all the posts, alot fo really helpful stuff there. Although I have never tried most of the food , I did try my first bit of peanut butter on the weekend... it was very strange.

Anyway, I'm gonna buy some tupaware and make hummus(I've seen this before) and peanut butter sandwiches. And then just have apples and bananas

Unfortunatly alot of the stuff seems too expensive, like I know that hemp seed oil is l ike 15 euros, so doubt I could afford even the seeds.

flikflak · 19-01-2009 11:10am

Do you have a microwave at work? If so the soup is a great lunch to have on these cold winter days.

You mentioned red kidney beans there in your first post well if you whizz them up in a food processor with some lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, tomato puree and cumin thats a great spread for rice cakes/rivitas/bread. Can use any beans really but the red kidney ones are much cheapness!

Loads of salad options with brown rice, bulghar wheat, quinoa, cous cous, millet - you just cook them up and add some veggies. Roast butternut squash, red onion and bulghar wheat is lovely.

Veggie wraps - loads of salad with home made guac yum!!

Check out vegweb.com for loads of great ideas.

Sapsorrow · 24-07-2009 11:24am

Best thing you can do is invest in one of those soup thermos's from argus, they're between 10 n 15 euro (can't remember) and they have a really wide neck and are shorter than usual ones and have a little bowl that fits into the cap.
I bring in a bean salad everyday for a snack and then my thermos with a big chunky stew or a curry with the rice mixed in (there is a name for that is it jalfrazi?) and some plain bread for dunkin! You'll be stuffed after that lot!

Ouchette · 24-07-2009 2:34pm

Here's some stuff I've had in my packed lunch recently, mostly based on leftovers because I'm bored of sandwiches. I usually try to make a bit extra of whatever I'm having the night before then change it a bit so I don't get bored eating it twice in a row.

-Tomatoey pasta salad (leftover pasta and tomato sauce, sundried tomatoes, some raw baby spinach when I had some available. I was copying the M&S one)

-Spicy pasta salad (pasta with fried chillis and onions from the night before with dressing made from olive oil, cider vineger and mustard, then a few salad leaves on the side)

-Rice salad (rice, hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, sweetcorn, salad dressing, salt and pepper)

-Greek salad (diced cucumber, tomatoes, feta, olives and a dressing) and some rice cakes and hummus

-Cous cous with stuff (made up a packet of couscous with some herbs, then added some grilled peppers, sundried tomatoes, chopped red onion and extra herbs)

-Cold pizza

-Cold leftover lentil dahl with french bread. Made it last night with 1 tin green lentils, one tin tomatoes, 1 large onion, garlic, about 4 hot chillis, asafoetida, turmeric, mustard seeds, cumin and a bit of salt and some extra water. Best lunch this week. Yum!

taram · 27-07-2009 1:09am

khrystyna100 wrote: »

Best thing you can do is invest in one of those soup thermos's from argus, they're between 10 n 15 euro (can't remember) and they have a really wide neck and are shorter than usual ones and have a little bowl that fits into the cap.
I bring in a bean salad everyday for a snack and then my thermos with a big chunky stew or a curry with the rice mixed in (there is a name for that is it jalfrazi?) and some plain bread for dunkin! You'll be stuffed after that lot!

:O Never knew soup thermos's existed! Spent all last winter liquidising what were lovely chunky soups because my thermos had a narrow neck, feel really stupid now. Going to buy one tomorrow morning, am far too excited for 1am about this

Sapsorrow · 27-07-2009 10:16am

I know they're deadly, I can't take the credit for this one though my sister actually discovered them originally but ye spread the word on 'em big time!
Dunno how I'd survive in the real world without one cos the shops are just full of junk!

Thoushaltnot · 28-07-2009 10:07am

raah! wrote: »

Unfortunatly alot of the stuff seems too expensive, like I know that hemp seed oil is l ike 15 euros, so doubt I could afford even the seeds.

Nope - a bag of seeds is a couple of euros in a regular health food store.

Toasting seeds and nuts *really* brings out the flavour of them, by the way.

My snack suggestion:
Loaf of tomato & fennel bread.
Tub of hummous.
1 knife.

Slice bread with knife, then use it to slather hummous over bread. Surprisingly delish. Good for sharing. Can be used later in same day.

Sapsorrow · 28-07-2009 10:24am

Thoushaltnot wrote: »

Nope - a bag of seeds is a couple of euros in a regular health food store.

Toasting seeds and nuts *really* brings out the flavour of them, by the way.

My snack suggestion:
Loaf of tomato & fennel bread.
Tub of hummous.
1 knife.

Slice bread with knife, then use it to slather hummous over bread. Surprisingly delish. Good for sharing. Can be used later in same day.

Ever considered cheffing? Never would of thought of that combo!

Steffi · 20-08-2009 12:59am

http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/

Even though its about kids lunches there are loads of great ideas for packed lunches here, the pictures are gorgeous and the lady who writes the blog has two cookbooks entirely dedicated to packed lunches.

Vegetarian packed lunch.

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