Quick Lunch Ideas Please

[KingLooieCatz]

We are terrible at lunch. Always have been. Back in our Double Income No Kids Yet days we got in the habit of eating out at lunchtime and we struggle to break it. Cafes abound where we live - that doesn't help. Not skint but we are mugs to pay ££ for what is often essentially a fancy cheese and onion toasty and a disappointing pot of tea. Weekend just gone we had lunch at home both days and I felt like I was winning at family life.

Please help me with ideas. The brief is:
• Preferably pretty quick to make
• Appealing (or DH will talk me into going out)
• Reasonably nutritious
• We don't eat a lot of meat but it's not completely banned.
• I'm not a huge fan of bread (but we did have bagels one day and wraps the other at the weekend so also not banned)
• DS does not go a bomb on eggs

Sounds fussy now I write it down like that but why not aim high!

Not necessarily quick, but shoving baking potatoes in a low oven at breakfast is hardly a chore and delivers lovely crisp outside soft inside jacket potatoes with any toppings

Salads;
Bacon and avocado salad, beetroot and goats cheese salad, roast vegetable salad, tabboleh, fattoush, King prawn salad, etc

I know you said no bread but you mention posh toasties- toasties, even posh ones are easily made at home. If you Pinterest posh grilled cheese you'll find a wealth of amazing toastie ideas ( pear and Gorgonzola being a current favourite of mine)

Fish is fast, light and easy- macrel with beetroot, horseradish and socket salad. Twenty minute foil baked salmon. Butter fried trout fillets with mushy peas or butter bean mash.

Quesadilla! Sweet potato, roasted red pepper and feta are well loved favourite. Black bean and avocado too. Loads of good quesadilla options

Soup and posh breads ( ciabatta, crusty rolls, toasted baguette, naan etc) spicy lentil soup, celeriac and bacon, broccoli and Stilton soup, creamy mushroom soup, minestrone- all quick, easy and nutritious.

These are some lunch type things I like that are quick to make. More assembly than cooking.

Japanese rice bowl - serves 2
Pack of microwave brown rice, cooked
Frozen edemame beans, cooked in microwave
Spinach, wilted
Smoked salmon
Avacado
Drizzle of soy
Scatter of sesame seeds
Pickled ginger

Big tuna salad
Pack of mixed leaves, or a baby gem lettuce shredded
Red onion, sliced v thin
Pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, grated carrot etc
Tin of tuna
Capers, anchovies, olives
Honey mustard dressing (or any other dressing you like really)

Greek salad and pita bread and hummus
Or
Greek salad with a tin of chickpeas added

Soup and rolls, either home made or shop bought (still cheaper than eating out)
Rather than bread sometimes I buy Thai style soups and do them with fresh noodles or rice in the bottom of the bowl for the carbs.

Picky style lunches - cheese, ham, salad, bread etc

Packet stir fry (quick no chopping)

Filled dress pasta tortilini + sauce
I normally just blend up a tin of toms and heat in the microwave with herbs for the sauce

Pasta and pesto or a sacla stir through sauce

I know you said you weren't a bread fan... But 'things on toast' is always nice. Cheese, beans, tinned sardines, egg, avocado, bacon, mushrooms etc Not all st the same time ;-)

Sweet potato fajitas
Dice and cook sweet pot in microwave (nicer if you roast if you have time but this is the quick version). Heat up a tin of black beans with generous amounts of fajita seasoning. Mix beans with sweet pot and cubed feta. Stuff into toritia wraps with avocado/coriander/salsa/lettuce.

Fish and potatoes
Hot smoked salmon, or smoked mackerel or trout
Pack of microwave new baby pots in butter and herbs (obvs cook your own if you want to/have time)
Chunky diced cooked beetroot
Plain yog with lemon stored through

Mix he beetroot through the pots. Serve the fish hot or cold. Drizzle of lemony yog over the fish.

Those sweet potato fajitas sound lovely!

What about crudités with humous, olives, cold meats, pitta bread?

Cous cous, with a combination of tomato,cucumber, red onion, pine nuts or roasted vegtables with a dressing?

Pasta, served with Passata, garlic, chilli flakes and Parmesan shavings. Or pasta served with cream, garlic, parmesan and lemon?

Brunch? Sour dough bread, topped with a poached egg and asparagus. Or bread, served with bacon and scrambled eggs (or even just scrambled egg and smoked salmon)?

Thanks guys! I checked in after a couple of hours and thought I wasn't going to get any replies. All much appreciated. Think I'll print them and place the hard copy somewhere prominent at home. Some of those things I think of as evening meals but I'm not sure why I've made that a thing in my head - I'd be open to pasta etc if I was eating out for lunch. Why didn't I think of fish? It's dead quick.

Thanks for posting.

I quite often make soup after breakfast, lentil or similar, with whatever veg is in the bottom of the fridge. Means there's something in so we are less likely to give in and go out or stay out if we are out already.

I'll stock up on M&S deli stuff some weekends so can have a sort of meat and cheese picky lunch.

Nice tinned sardines from Waitrose, grilled - with toast and salad.

That's made me want sardines for tea!!