What should I have for lunch?

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Here is a question that I am asked frequently:

What should we eat for lunch? We are trying to eat a lot of fish. At lunch we have tuna on ryvita with sliced cucumber, but have to be naughty and add a little aromat. We eat those packet tuna 'John West light tuna' with the mixed in dressings - do you think they are bad?!

I don't know that the light tuna with mixed in dressing is 'bad' - I haven't read the label, but they probably contain some sort of synthetic preservatives. They are certainly very expensive. A plain old tin of shredded tuna in brine, drained and mixed with a little Hellmann’s low fat mayo (with the green lid and very yummy!) and some finely chopped spring onion or red onion works out much cheaper. Add a little salt and a good grind of black pepper - plus a little bit of tomato sauce and / or lemon juice if you like. Instead of mayo you could mix in some other low-oil salad dressing (Ina Paarman's range is delicious.) Aromat contains monosodium glutamate, and quite a few E-numbers - read your packaging. Try using a sprinkle of veg stock powder instead - Ina Paarman's has no MSG, and no E-numbers.

Don't get bogged down in having the same lunch every day - try and vary it a bit, or you will get very bored with it eventually. Try roasting a whole chicken occassionally, strip the meat off the bones and throw away the skin. Freeze in small portions for lunchtime use. When you thaw it, you can either use the slices, or chop up finely with some mayo.

Melrose low fat cheese slices and wedges are also a good breakfast or lunchtime food. And a hard boiled egg is hard to beat.

Ryvita's are crunchy and tasty. Have you tried all the different varieties? I particularly like the ones with sesame seed. Provita are also yummy, specially with marmite, cucumber and tomato. I have a problem with crackers and savoury biscuits - they just taste like 'more' (gotta have some 'more')! Have some bread occasionally, too - rye bread is one of my favourites.

Make the effort and eat more salad veg at lunchtime. Eating a plate of mixed salad is very satisfying, fills you up, and helps you meet your 5-a-day quota. And there is pretty well no limit to what you can put in a salad. Did you know that butternut and sweet potato are both good raw? Chickpeas (garbanzo beans), cannellini beans and butter beans are all salad friendly. Throw in some chopped mango or pineapple and add some nuts and you have a very healthy nutritious lunchtime feast.

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3 for a perfect lunch

On Monday I looked at on-the-run breakfasts, and today I'm going to share some of my favourite no-fuss take-to-the-office lunches. A healthy, balanced dinner at home shouldn't ever present a problem - there are new recipes on this blog every week day, and past and current recipes are collected and categorized on my other blogs, with links on the right of this page.

I am a great fan of the soup-salad-sandwich lunch, whether I am at home or at the office. I'll start with soup.
Soup gives you a sense of fullness that lasts a long time. Any soup will do – as long as it’s home-made. ‘Home-made’ means that there is less fat, preservatives, artificial flavourants and colours, just plain goodness. Make up a big batch of your favourite soup and freeze it. You can add beans, barley and/or lentils to make it more substantial, if you like.
Or you can make a rich, creamy tasting soup out of butternut or carrots (or both), which is delicious hot or cold.
Start with: 1 onion, peeled and quartered.
Add to this 1 medium butternut, peeled, deseeded and cut in chunks (or 5-6 large carrots, scrubbed and sliced).
Put the prepared veg in a saucepan and pour in about 750ml of chicken or veg stock .
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 mins.
Once the veg are soft, blitz the whole lot with a hand-blender, or pulse in a liquidizer, until it is smooth.
Now you can add more water if you want a thinner soup.
Then add in whatever you like in the way of flavouring - 2 Tblsp curry paste, 2 Tblsp chopped coriander (cilantro) or 2 Tblsp of grated ginger root - and blitz again to disperse the herbs.
Pack into plastic containers (this freezes well, though you may want to blitz it again on thawing).
Serve with a dollop of fat free yoghurt, creme- or fromage fraiche.
I usually get 4-5 servings of about 350ml each out of one pot of soup.

Salads are a fabulous way of packing in all those vitamins and minerals. And 'salad' is very versatile - you can put in pretty much whatever you have. To most people a salad is rabbit food, but it doesn't have to be. I always start off with mixed lettuce leaves because I like lettuce, but you can add rocket; baby spinach; chopped fresh mint; chopped fresh basil; watercress; mustard cress; asparagus and alfalfa sprouts; and I'm still only on the green stuff. For colour and crunch there are: red, yellow and green bell peppers, red onion, radishes, olives, beetroot. For substance add: chickpeas, cannellini beans, broad beans. For extra protein add; hardboiled egg, feta cheese, nuts, pine nuts, seeds, smoked trout, canned tuna or salmon. For a sweet surprise add chopped apple, mango, pineapple, pear, grapes, cherry tomatoes, orange segments. No dressing required.
Or you could start with cooked rice or pasta and add any or all the above.

Sandwiches are versatile, too. You could pack the salad above between two slices of whole wheat bread, or in a bagel, or in a hollowed out whole wheat seed roll. Then there are the usual sandwich fillings; egg- chicken- or tuna mayonnaise (use a low oil light mayo, and you don't need to butter the bread). Or choose a filling of cold meat, chicken or cheese (omit the protein from the sandwich if you have already put it in the salad).

Full yet? Don't get bogged down with eating the same lunch every day. Ring the changes with left-overs (which don't sound very appetizing after the soup-salad-sandwich combo above!) or look back at the breakfasts I suggested - many of those make a suitable lunch.

Whatever you decide on, remember to watch your portion sizes.

Magic sandwiches

I know, I know, I'm supposed to be taking a break from blogging, but my brother insists that I post this recipe – he named this a ‘Magic Sandwich’ the first time I made it for him. The recipe has a life of its own, and changes each time I make it, but certain ingredients must be included for it to qualify as ‘magic’ – I will italicize these.

Take 2 slices of brown or whole wheat bread.
Generously spread 1 slice with Helman’s low fat mayo, and the other with marmite.
Place the marmite slice on a sheet of cling wrap or grease-proof paper (paper is actually best).
Now pile on LOTS of mixed lettuce leaves, watercress, sliced cucumber and sliced tomato.

We used to get something called ‘cheese spice’ here, but I think it must have contained MSG, because it’s no longer available. So sprinkle the salad-y stuff with aromat or some similar seasoning, and some freshly ground black pepper.
Top with a good slice or 2 of Hickory smoked ham and slices of cheese.
Then add avocado slices.
Finish with the mayo-ed bread slice, and press down with the palm of your hand.
Do NOT attempt to cut the sandwich in half.

Quickly fold the greaseproof paper tightly around the sandwich.

To eat, hold with both hands, tearing the paper off in a spiral as you work your way down.

I can picture my brother now, begging for another!