Salads etc for work

[allnewname]

Your go-to lunchbox ideas please... so bored with my current selection.
Criteria:
Made in bulk to last the week or at least 2/3 days.
Very simple, very quick, (more assembling ingredients than actual cooking) eg tins of beans etc
Cold or heatable in the microwave.
Not sandwiches or soups.
Trying to cut down on bread but often default to a sandwich at lunchtime, due to laziness and lack of inspiration.

Roasted veggies with a pot of houmous

Feta couscous
Prawn noodle salad
Italian rice
Mixed grain avocado

I've really fallen out of the habit of taking lunch in with me, but need to get back on it.

While the oven was on for last night's roast (and while I was prepping other stuff anyway), I chucked a load of veg in a roasting tin, and will have those with grains (one of those microwaveable pouches) and some feta (maybe a dollop of hummous) for lunch today and tomorrow. I did aubergine, sweet potato, pepper, red onion, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.

Also very nice to do a salad base (whether that be traditional leaves, or grains, or maybe some edamame beans and peas, or couscous and roasted veg), and then pop a piece of salmon on top.

I don't really gravitate to salads in the winter, but in the summer I really love Cobb salad, also make a spring onion, edamame bean and pea with mint and feta, which is very popular.

I tend to think about what salads I would choose if I were buying from the supermarket or a salad shop, and then make it myself at home.

Take some bread and butter.

Put a couple of eggs ins a Tupperware box with some cheese and seasoning.

At lunch time, crack the eggs into the cheese and seasoning, and cook up scrambled egg in the microwave (1 min, stir, 1 min, stir till it's the way you like).

Jar salad - hurrythefoodup.com/how-to-pack-a-salad-in-a-jar/

I find TikTok a great resource for discovering new and interesting salads.



This book is the dog's

Don't think the photo posted but here's a link

www.hive.co.uk/Product/Alexander-Hart/The-5-Minute-Salad-Lunchbox--Happy-healthy-and-speedy-sal/23031024

Thank you! Will look at these later and get started!

I use the below long lasting things and supplement with whatever fresh stuff I have - cucumber, tomato, the usual. I sometimes don't bother with leaves. They don't fill me up and I'm not convinced they do much nutritionally. Just rotate all fresh and the below and you'll have a million options ready to go.

Bases

• packets of rice
• Those pre done packets of lentils and grains (Indian, Italian, mexican, whatever)
• cauliflower 'rice'

Easy protein

• Cooked chicken lasts well in fridge
• tins of fish - tuna, sardines, mackeral
• Boiled eggs (last ages in the fridge)

Jarred stuff

• olives
• sun dried tomatoes
• pickles
• artichoke
• peppers

Things for crunch and flavour

• Packets of mixed seeds, nuts and dried fruit.
• Dried garlic granuals, dried onion
• packers of 'salad toppers'

This is an easy peasy one I take into work and lasts a good few days:

www.wellplated.com/chickpea-tuna-salad/

I like a bean based take on a salad nicoise as it keeps for longer and is much more filling:
Cannelini or butter beans, tinned tuna, halved cherry toms, hard boiled egg, anchovies, fresh basil, capers & black olives

Keep a jar of classic vinaigrette (dijon, vinegar, olive oil) in the fridge and add in on the day or take with you

Also, you can't beat a greek salad...

Another winner is anything with a miso dressing, i like this one which keeps for ages:
Finely shredded white cabbage, grated or julienne carrot, radish, cucumber, chicken breast (marinate in a bit of soy & sesame, grill, slice up, keep in the fridge), toasted sesame seeds
Miso dressing:
food52.com/recipes/25681-no-frills-miso-dressing/amp

Lentil, roasted squash or pumpkin & feta or goat's cheese sort of thing is another good one that keeps well

I'm going to give you another egg suggestion but I've never had a problem with it smelling.
Fritata. Ok it does take a bit of prep but it can all be done in advance and if you make a big one it will do you three days kept in the fridge. And it's really adaptable so loads of variations to prevent boredom. I like roasted peppers, mushrooms and onion with bacon, but green veg like broccoli or leeks also work, particularly with a bit of blue cheese crumbled in. (I know the cheese ups the cals but because blue cheese is so strong you need very little.)

I also like a kind of Mexican salad with kidney beans, sweetcorn, pineapple, red onion and peppers, add some cooked chicken and make a simple dressing with lime juice, finely chopped chilli and a splash of the pineapple juice.