What are your healthy-but-filling interesting lunches?

[Zrt]

I need inspiration. I find lunch SOOOO boring. I need something easy to make, healthy but properly satisfying to stop me eating snacks later. All ideas welcome.

I find hummous with pitta and a variety of veg to be lovely and filling, maybe a banana and a yoghurt on the side for extra 😊

i make a sort of brunchy thing- sourdough toast, smashed avocado, and then grilled cherry tomatoes, halloumi and maybe some bacon. Sometimes I do some spinach as well. So good.

I love a chunky soup, and when I’m hungry for a snack I have another bowl (no bread!)

Hearty soup such as minestrone or bean and bacon, or a fish soup with added pasta or rice.

Things to eat cold... Mixed bean salad with smoked mackerel or sardines, Salade Niçoise, pasta salad with ham or chicken or poached salmon, Caesar salad with chicken.

Things on toast, eggs, beans & bacon, sardines,

Mix feta, red onion, tomato, cucumber and olives, then stuff into a toasted Pitta bread.

Fills me up for hours.

My absolute favourite winter lunch is winter veg Panzanella. I don't have the recipe I'm afraid I lost it so have to do it from memory. In a nutshell its roasted root veg tossed with stale crusty bread in olive oil. I like to add something pickled for contrast.

microwaved sweet potato with cream cheese

I’m all about soup right now!

I get a small wrap & fry for a minute or so on each side; then add some grated cheese & allow to melt; then add (cooked) chicken & a few drizzles of sweet chilli sauce. Really filling and so nice & quick (I normally cook extra chicken breasts when I’ve the oven on and then cut into portions and freeze. Then take out as I need the night before).

Caesar salad well done can be really nice, homemade croutons, plenty of chicken or veg alternative.

A really chunky soup like leek and potato unblended or a chickpea curry will be filling too. A broth type of soup with chunky veg and pasta/rice would keep you going

Hash brown, ham, pineapple and cheese tower grilled. Don’t know if you can categorise this as healthy but it’s so bloody good!

Salads can be yum!

• tomato mozarella basil
• apple and cheddar summer salad
• Pomegranate and grapefruit
• Pear, blue cheese, walnut
• Tomato and plum salad
• lots of feta options
• roasted betroot and goats cheese.
• melon and Parma ham

baked cheeses - brie/ Camembert etc.

A toasted sandwich. Thick bread or a panini. Mayo and hot dog mustard. Ham, cheese and sliced gherkins.

Bowl of soup with a part-baked roll done in the air fryer.

Baguette with shredded chicken, diced crispy bacon, shredded lettuce all mixed together with Caesar dressing.

Toasted sandwich - spread red pesto on the bread and then ham and sliced cheese.

An omelette with ham, mushroom and diced onion.

Toasted bagel with various fillings (ie sandwich fillers from most supermarkets - prawn cocktail, egg mayo, chicken and sweetcorn, etc)

Toast or toasted bagel with ham and poached egg on top.

Couple of slices of quiche. Aldi do a lovely one in their Specially Selected range - smoked bacon and cheese.

On a day where you CBA to do anything - McDonald’s quarter pounder and fries!

Halve the ingredients for one -

www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/quick-and-easy/pepper-red-onion-and-goats-cheese-frittata/amp/

Omelette made with paneer or halloumi cheese and peppers, onion, mushroom,.

Apple, celery and walnut salad (M & S) with a few olives, tomatoes and a slice of goat's cheese.

Firstly I’d say allow the snacks later.you can still be mindful and swap them up soemtimes for more nutritional ones but if your body and mind want a snack give it.restricting that will only lead to craving more later.

pearl barley cooked with carrots onions and celery is such a comforting bowl of goodness warm or cold.you can do this with other grains too.this time of year it’s fab.leftover chcickeb is good on top too.
roast sweet potato and veg
roast peppers and chorizo mixed through some tiny pasta or rice
greek salad
dahl
soup
pasta and courgette and peppers cooked down and mix through chickpea or mixed beans
resdy made tortellini with pesto
cereal and toast!
chicken and tomato giant couscous
fillet of salmon or tinned,peppers,sweetcorn,cucumber bowl with dressing
love a big tuna and sweetcorn salad
salmon and cream cheese pasta

At home I usually cook.

If I'm taking a lunch with me I go bento style.

I have a lunch box with 4 compartments so I try too do 1 carb, 1 protein, 1 fruit, 1 veg, 1 treat.

Carb is often cous cous, sometimes rice, or pita bread.
Protein often meat balls or cheese or cooked meat, sometimes boiled eggs.
Veg is often green or red salad, with a small bottle of salad dressing.
Fruit - melon chunks or grapes.
Treat - dark chocolate, yoghurt, biscuit, extra fruit.

I might not eat all of it at one sitting.

I also freeze meals eg at the moment I have a portion of vegi chilli and 2 tortillas frozen, if I have access to a microwave then that can be taken in.

I’m making and eating a lot of dhal atm. Yesterday I made a tomato lentil pasta soup for the dc’s lunch.

Roasted pepper, red onion and sweet potato soup. Seasoned with smoked paprika and garlic. I tend to use 2 good sized sweet potatoes. The first lot once roasted goes in the blender with a good amount of stock and blended until completely smooth and fairly runny and then the second batch I don't add in hardly any stock to it, just enough for it to blend together so it's more thicker. Add that to the rest of it whack it in a pan and stir it all together. I do put a bit more like half a tub of single cream in but you can leave it out. It's filling without bread as a quick snack or I do a couple of mini part bake rolls or a sandwich if I'm having it for dinner.

It’s a bit of effort once a week but I make a soup with mince, lentils and loads of vegetables that keeps me comfortably full til dinner. If you eat meat, having lentils and meat in the same meal is really filling.

@Porridgeislife do you have a recipe that you could share, please? It sounds great.

@newfence this is the recipe I use. It’s really flexible, I’ve switched beef for chicken or turkey mince, use whatever lentils/legumes I’ve got (eg chana dal) and throw in whatever veg needs using up.

She suggests different spice mixes at the bottom of the recipe - my favourite is the Moroccan and the Mexican.

www.recipetineats.com/beef-lentil-soup-beef-mince-recipe/

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/occasions/christmas/christmas-starters/smoked-bacon-and-lentil-soup

This soup is very filling.

@Porridgeislife thanks so much, I’ll give it a go!