Mittwoch, 6. Januar 2021

Lunch boxes Part 3: My favorite lunch box meals

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In this post, you'll find recipes and instructions for

  • my general favorites
  • my time savers
  • my freezer backup
  • my mix+match approach
  • cold lunch boxes
  • and... a very important list at the end ;)


My general favorites

Fried noodles

To be more exact: Fried noodles with deep fried tofu and veggies. RECIPE.



Sesame spinach, rice, mock duck (or sweet and sour tofu or gochujang tofu)

with gochujang tofu

You start out with the super simple sesame spinach (RECIPE). Add rice. Then, there's at least three options for you:

  • Mock duck (from the Asian supermarket, blue can): give it a good sear (maybe fry up some onions before) and deglaze with soy sauce.
  • Sweet and sour tofu. (RECIPE)
  • Gochujang tofu (RECIPE)

Mock Duck <3

Alu Gobhi

One of Mr Squirrel's favorite - so much, he tends to ask if we can have this a little more often than the "each meal once per month" rule (RECIPE).


Stuffed Eggplants

Mr. Squirrel likes to make this RECIPE and always varies it a little, for example with the spices or the legumes he uses (for example: chick peas, black eyed peas...).

You can either serve half an eggplant witha little 
 bulgur or rice salad or serve two halves per person


Pulled jackfruit with potatoes and veggies

This can be made two days in advanced if you want. RECIPE. And in terms of veggies, you can really do whatever you like. In order to save time, I like to use frozen green beans. Or just a salad.



Mac and Cheese with broccoli

This is where my favorite cheese sauce shines (RECIPE). We make it on a regular basis (also for nachos and sandwiches). Make some macaroni or elbow pasta to go with it. Or other non-mac pasta. Optional, lovely addition: Caramelized onions. I love to eat broccoli with this meal. But I also just really love broccoli :)

Also works with penne pasta :)


Pizza rolls and salad

Pizza rolls are like cinnamon buns. Just made from pizza. (RECIPE) What could go wrong?



Potato cauliflower curry with spinach

Watch out, the RECIPE serves quite a few people. So do feel free to cut it in half (unless you want to feed a lot of people :)) and add some cooked lentils (black or brown lentils).



Baked tofu with mashed potatoes and veggies

Baked tofu so good <3 The secret is ... patience... and the right tofu. RECIPE.



Peanut Butter Soup

Peanut butter soup sounds funny, but tastes amazing. And for the most part, you can reall used any veggies you like or that you currently have or that needs to go. RECIPE.


Chili

Can't go wrong with chili. I like to take it to work by itself, with pasta, with rice or with nachos.... RECIPE.



Time Saver

Salad with pasta

I used to see coworkers buy salads that came with cooked pasta. Seems like the food industry had a good idea. So I stole it :D Cooking pasta (or using leftovers from the previous day) doesn't take a lot of time. While the pasta is cooking, you can just throw together a bit of a salad and make a tasty sauce. Like a yoghurt tahin sauce (REZEPT). No yoghurt available? Swap it for some soy milk with a dash of lemon juice.


Veggies in hoisin sauce

Fry veggies. Douse it in store bought hoisin sauce. Still have some deep fried tofu in the freezer? Prepped some extra rice the day before? (Or have the rice cook while you're frying the veggies?) The possibilities are endless (and yum) ;)



Sweet and sour tofu with veggies and rice

Same concept as the hoisin sauce veggies, but with sweet and sour tofu (RECIPE)... Also: I have frozen tofu ready to go in the sauce and everything. So a great meal to prep ahead :)



Leftover rice

Ok. Another rice meal. Ideally with leftover rice. Just cook whatever veggies you like/have available and stirr them in with the rice.

  • Suggestion 1: Chopped up (seeded) tomatoes, fried eggplant (cubes or slices), fried zucchini, toasted pine nuts, thinly sliced spring onions, olives and/or dried tomatoes. Season with olive oil and salt.
  • Suggestion 2: Fried (or simmered) carrot cubes, fried zucchini, frozen peas, frozen green beans. Season with soy sauce and curry powder.
Optional topping: fried tofu (deglazed with soy sauce?), smoked tofu, a veggie steak (bought), a homemade veggie steak (homemade and then frozen or leftovers from your last barbecue?)


Thai Curry

Ok, here's my basic RECIPE. But regardless of whether you're making green or red or any other color curry, to me the basics are: coconut cream, veggie stock, salt and sugar (!) - if available: lime leaves (you can get them frozen or dried at most Asian supermarkets). Use this to cook your favorite veggies in. My standard veggies (or a selection thereof) are: eggplants (watch out, they take quite a while to cook unless you slice them very thinly), zucchini, peppers. Optional additions: broccoli, cashews, green beans. 



Extra green pea soup (with bread)

This is one of those meals that you can make without having anything perishable. Frozen peas, frozen pretzel rolls (or other bread). RECIPE.



Backup from the freezer

You will have to cook these meals yourself... but they are great to be frozen in portion sizes for whenever you need them :)

Soy Curl Ragout

The RECIPE goes by gingerbread ragout, but if you leave out the Christmas spices, it works all year round.
 



German grandma style kale

Ok, to be honest, I am not sure how well this is going to go with an audience that did not grow up eating this in their mom's or grandmother's kitchen, but still... Mr Squirrel always make a big pot of these and freezes portions. RECIPE. 



Seitan goulasch

Now this does take a bit of extra time to prep, however, it's a great meal to be frozen, so you have a treat when you need it. Just thaw a serving and cook some fusilli pasta with it and you're good to go. :) RECIPE.


Dal (and poppadoms from the microwave)

Argh. I still need to type up Mr. Squirrel's recipe for dal. HOWEVER, I promise you, if you google dal real quick, you'll find a recipe. Most dal recipes are vegan (unless there's ghee involved). But I have a bonus tipp for you for poppadoms. You know the crispy round things made from urd beans. Just pop them in the microwave for thirty seconds! They don't even have to be fried in oil :D Mush less of a mess... and a good snack.





Pumpkin soup

The first recipe I ever posted here 🙈 And not difficult to make at all :) And  a great treat to freeze and then have available when you don't want to cook. 

And there's caramelized onion bread
(recipe) in this picture. 


Samosas

I think I still have a long way to go when it comes to mastering samosas, ... but they're tasty. And good to freeze some extra ones for rainy days. RECIPE.




Falafels

Making falafels is far too much effort if you just make a hand full... So I just make a whole bunch and freeze some :) Definitely one of the things I love my Middle Eastern starter plate lunch boxes. RECIPE.




Mix + Match 

When it comes to my Mix + Match approach, I am talking about cooking without an actual recipe, but throwing stuff together, so I have roughly ⅓ carbs, ⅓ veggies (ok, maybe a little more here) and ⅓ protein. Sounds boring, but can turn out to be quite tasty. (Also: Having a nice sauce never hurt anyone!) 

For the carb

Basic bulgur salad: Cook ½ cup of bulgur with 1 cup of water and a little salt. Optional: Add spices like za'atar. Season with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Add things like: cubed (seeded) tomatoes, pomegranate seeds, cucumber (seeded) cubes, fresh parsley.

Basic kritharaki salad: Cook kritharaki (risoni pasta) kochen, i.e. ½ cup of pasta. Season with olive oil and salt. Cut up olives or dried tomatoes and add to pasta. Maybe add cubed (seeded) fresh tomatoes and cucumber. Or freshly chopped rosemary.


Protein components

  • Frikadellen (RECIPE)
  • Smoked tofu 
  • Chickpeas and/or edamame with tandoori masala (RECIPE)
  • Falafels (RECIPE)
  • Veggie steak
  • Red Lentil Frikadellen (RECIPE)
  • Hummus <3 (RECIPE)


Veggies

  • Cooked broccoli
  • Fried or grilled green asparagus
  • Snow peas
  • fried zucchini
  • fried eggplants (I have also air fried these)
  • fried or cooked carrots
  • sesame spinach (RECIPE)
  • cole slaw

Sauces

  • yogurt tahin sauce (RECIPE)
  • lime tahin sauce (RECIPE)
  • saté sauce (RECIPE)
  • curry sauce (RECIPE)
  • cheese sauce (RECIPE)
  • yogurt sauce (unsweetened soy sogurt, some lemon juice, salt, maybe a little water)




Cold lunch boxes

Especially during the summer or at some places where I don't have the option to heat up food in the microwave, it's good to have a little list of meals that work well cold. Here's a few ideas (plus the samosas and salad with pasta that I listed earlier): 

Italian potato salad

You may have to adjust the amount of garlic that's suitable for your work setting... but I am sure you'll find a solution for that. (RECIPE)



Potato salad

A classic. Great with veggie hot dogs. Or without them. (REZEPT)



Middle Easter starter plate

I love these lunch boxes. You can pick anything you like. 

  • Bulgur salad (check Mix+Match for instructions)
  • Falafels (RECIPE)
  • Olives
  • grilled (or fried) veggies (peppers, zucchini, eggplants)
  • pickled peppers
  • hummus (RECIPE)
  • yoghurtsauce (unsweetened soy sogurt, some lemon juice, salt, maybe a little water)
  • stuffed vine leaves (I buy these)
  • Çiğ köfte (I buy these, too)
  • a little salad (iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers)... 



Rice noodles with veggies and lime tahin sauce

Somehow I fell in love with the combination of tahin and lime in 2020. This is what it ended up as: RECIPE.



Sushi

The basic instructions for sushi rice are: Wash rice (until the water comes out clear). Then cook it in the rice cooker. Rule of thumb: Fill in the rice, then fill up the water to the point that when you stick your pinky in the water, the tip of the finger touches the rice, the water should go up to the first joint of that finger. Once the rice has cooked, I mix rice vinegar with salt and sugar (make a little extra, like 3-4 tb spoons, depending on how much rice you cooked) and then gradually and carefully mix it in with the rice until the taste is right.

I recommend getting a sushi mat for your sushi. I always put my mat in a 3 liter freezer bag. You can wipe it down after using it if rice squished out of the roll and onto the protected mat. 

For the filling, I use seeded cucumber stripes, cooked carrots, and avocado.

RECIPE for the pictures spicy sesame cucumber salad


Very important!

It is absolutely fine to buy stuff for your lunch box. This is not a competition. Here's a few ideas of things I buy occassionally:

  • hummus (for example at the Middle Eastern supermarket)
  • Çiğ köfte (also Middle Eastern supermarket)
  • a pizza kit (pizza crust and sauce from the fridge section at any major supermarket - at least it's available in most German supermarkets)
  • mini spring rolls (frozen at the Asian supermarket)
  • samosas (German Aldi Süd sells those frozen - check if you can get them anywhere near you)
  • ramen (from the Asian supermarket. Nongshim Veggie even has a vegan label!)
  • stuffed vine leaves (I have found those at German supermarkets, but also at middle Eastern ones)
Now, I only have recent shopping  at German (and some Dutch) supermarkets. So I don't know what's available in your neighborhood. Do check out your local stores and check for stuff that's either openly vegan... or accidentally :D


And for more inspiration you can check out my my "work lunch" album on Facebook <3

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