Healthy Vegetarian Lunch Options?

Whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter, honey and banana slices rolled up!

I love making carrot batons, cucumber, peppers and cherry tomatoes with a small pot of houmous.

Hummus with veggies (I have a recipe for butterbean hummus if you'd like it; I'm not a fan of the texture of garbanzo beans)

vegetarian chili

black bean burgers (several recipes on internet). I don't know if you know it but instead of eggs, you can soak chia seeds in water. They become jelly like and work great as a binder.

bean burrito (if you're afraid of the fat, mash up a can of drained pintos - add cumin and cayenne, etc)

pasta with simple marinara (I usually will make one with crushed tomatoes, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, basil)

pasta salad with whole grain pasta, light dressing and variety of vegetables.

bake some corn tortillas sprayed with nonstick spray in oven and have salsa on side

Mexican pizza (top pita bread with refried beans seasoned with taco seasoning, lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, salsa, etc)

Soups (alone or with side salad):

Zucchini soup. Cook sliced zucchini in vegetable broth with garlic and onions. When tender, drain & puree.
(I normally use 1 tbsp. of light sour cream but that's optional. It just makes it creamier). Season however
you like. If you eat cheese, I sprinkle with parm and croutons.

Broccoli soup. For this I use milk, but I'm sure you could substitute almond milk. I cook frozen broccoli. For
thickness, I cook diced onions in 2 tsp of oil, once it's done, add same amount of flour, allow to lightly
brown then add milk and stir until thick. I then blend the broccoli with the creamy mixture and enough liquid
to thin out. You get the idea.

Tomato soup. Easy with side of garlic toast or croutons.

Stuffed pepper. Instead of the meat, use lentils, mushrooms or beans.

I'm not vegetarian. I've eaten vegetarian before. I love my vegetables !!!

Note: these don't seem easy but I make them at night then bring for lunch....

Lentil salad with lime-cumin vinaigrette.

In a bowl, mix up the vinaigrettre. Add one can of drained, rinsed lentils. Additions to this salad: green onions, raisins, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, brown rice. It will taste better if prepared in advance. When I'm ready to eat, I like to add a few bits of feta cheese.

littlewingMandy wrote: »

Whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter, honey and banana slices rolled up!

I'd skip the honey and use Hershey's syrup or chocolate chips. Dessert and lunch in one.

I love leftover veggie chilli and baked sweet potato for lunch.

These are really good and they freeze really well:

http://cookingwhims.com/2012/02/22/whip-it-up-wednesday-chickpea-tahini-patties/

My husband and I enjoy them so much that we've made them part of our regular meal rotation. I serve them on a hamburger bun topped with spinach and tomato slices. They're also quite nice topped with a bit of hummus!

EDIT: Oops, it seems like the website is no longer there! I use the recipe so often that I haven't tried to follow that link for a long time, and just posted it without clicking. Darn it. But here's the recipe that I got from it:

Vegetarian Chickpea Patties
Makes 6 patties

Ingredients:
• 400g can of chickpeas, drained (260 grams net)
• 80g plain breadcrumbs
• 30g tahina
• 7.5g cumin (1.5 tsp)
• 5g baking powder
• 100g onions, chopped finely
• 3 large garlic cloves, grated
• 20g parsley, chopped
• 20g coriander, chopped
• 0.5 lemon, juiced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F
2. Mix the breadcrumbs, baking powder, cumin, salt, and pepper together. Set aside.
3. Combine the chopped onions, parsley, coriander, garlic, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. Add the chickpeas and breadcrumbs to a food processor. Pulse continuously until you have a coarse, crumbly texture.
5. Add the herb mixture and stir the contents of the food processor with a spoon to loosen the mix. Pour in the tahina and mix again. Run the food processor on low to medium until the ingredients are well-combined.
6. Wearing gloves, use your hands to remove the “dough” from the food processor and form it into a ball. Divide it into six parts and shape into patties, placing them on a greased or paper-lined baking sheet as you form them.
7. Bake the patties at 400°F for 15 minutes. Do not attempt to remove them from the baking sheet until they have cooled completely, or they will fall apart.
8. Freeze leftover patties for as long as three months, if needed.

FindingCynSporation wrote: »

ejbronte wrote: »

I made a week's worth of hummus this weekend and have been using it for sandwiches, and also as a salad dressing ingredient. Today, I sandwiched it, and had some Concord grapes for dessert.

The hummus was a combo of (low sodium) garbanzos and lentils; olive oil and sunflower seeds, flavored up with lemon juice and pepper, with some other spices. No added salt - none needed. Threw it all in my Vitamix and let it go for a minute. It's lasted me the whole week and more so far.

This sounds delicious! I haven't made hummus in forever, I need to get back to it. Thank you for this suggestion!

I was really happy with it! The blend of the beans was a pleasant little surprise to me, and the taste got better over the week, too.

Susieq_1994 wrote: »

These are really good and they freeze really well:

http://cookingwhims.com/2012/02/22/whip-it-up-wednesday-chickpea-tahini-patties/

My husband and I enjoy them so much that we've made them part of our regular meal rotation. I serve them on a hamburger bun topped with spinach and tomato slices. They're also quite nice topped with a bit of hummus!

EDIT: Oops, it seems like the website is no longer there! I use the recipe so often that I haven't tried to follow that link for a long time, and just posted it without clicking. Darn it. But here's the recipe that I got from it:

Vegetarian Chickpea Patties
Makes 6 patties

Ingredients:
• 400g can of chickpeas, drained (260 grams net)
• 80g plain breadcrumbs
• 30g tahina
• 7.5g cumin (1.5 tsp)
• 5g baking powder
• 100g onions, chopped finely
• 3 large garlic cloves, grated
• 20g parsley, chopped
• 20g coriander, chopped
• 0.5 lemon, juiced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F
2. Mix the breadcrumbs, baking powder, cumin, salt, and pepper together. Set aside.
3. Combine the chopped onions, parsley, coriander, garlic, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. Add the chickpeas and breadcrumbs to a food processor. Pulse continuously until you have a coarse, crumbly texture.
5. Add the herb mixture and stir the contents of the food processor with a spoon to loosen the mix. Pour in the tahina and mix again. Run the food processor on low to medium until the ingredients are well-combined.
6. Wearing gloves, use your hands to remove the “dough” from the food processor and form it into a ball. Divide it into six parts and shape into patties, placing them on a greased or paper-lined baking sheet as you form them.
7. Bake the patties at 400°F for 15 minutes. Do not attempt to remove them from the baking sheet until they have cooled completely, or they will fall apart.
8. Freeze leftover patties for as long as three months, if needed.

This sounds very, very good.

ejbronte wrote: »

Susieq_1994 wrote: »

These are really good and they freeze really well:

http://cookingwhims.com/2012/02/22/whip-it-up-wednesday-chickpea-tahini-patties/

My husband and I enjoy them so much that we've made them part of our regular meal rotation. I serve them on a hamburger bun topped with spinach and tomato slices. They're also quite nice topped with a bit of hummus!

EDIT: Oops, it seems like the website is no longer there! I use the recipe so often that I haven't tried to follow that link for a long time, and just posted it without clicking. Darn it. But here's the recipe that I got from it:

Vegetarian Chickpea Patties
Makes 6 patties

Ingredients:
• 400g can of chickpeas, drained (260 grams net)
• 80g plain breadcrumbs
• 30g tahina
• 7.5g cumin (1.5 tsp)
• 5g baking powder
• 100g onions, chopped finely
• 3 large garlic cloves, grated
• 20g parsley, chopped
• 20g coriander, chopped
• 0.5 lemon, juiced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F
2. Mix the breadcrumbs, baking powder, cumin, salt, and pepper together. Set aside.
3. Combine the chopped onions, parsley, coriander, garlic, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. Add the chickpeas and breadcrumbs to a food processor. Pulse continuously until you have a coarse, crumbly texture.
5. Add the herb mixture and stir the contents of the food processor with a spoon to loosen the mix. Pour in the tahina and mix again. Run the food processor on low to medium until the ingredients are well-combined.
6. Wearing gloves, use your hands to remove the “dough” from the food processor and form it into a ball. Divide it into six parts and shape into patties, placing them on a greased or paper-lined baking sheet as you form them.
7. Bake the patties at 400°F for 15 minutes. Do not attempt to remove them from the baking sheet until they have cooled completely, or they will fall apart.
8. Freeze leftover patties for as long as three months, if needed.

This sounds very, very good.

It is! Absolutely heavenly. I hope you try it!

I have been bringing salads lately, which I pack the night before by layering the ingredients in a quart deli container. (Similar to those "mason jar salads" you see on Pinterest, but a bit more practical, because the plastic deli containers are obviously lighter and far less likely to break!) Then at work I dump it into a big bowl and mix it up. In the following order, I typically use:

1/2 cup (113g) low-fat cottage cheese
1 oz (28g) feta
100g chickpeas (or sometimes a can of tuna but I prefer the chickpeas)
1 oz (28g) shredded carrots
50-100g of some other veggie (cucumber, red pepper, etc)
then fill to the top with a green of choice (usually arugula because it's so flavorful)

On the side I pack a fist sized tomato and cut it up at work so that the texture doesn't get ruined in the fridge.

This usually runs me about 350-380 calories, depending. I also add plenty of seasoning salt (CampMix or Jane's Krazy Salt), black pepper, and crushed red pepper.

I love cottage cheese so using it as a dressing is pretty tasty, and has the benefit of adding moisture and protein. The juice from the tomato also helps with moisture, and the feta adds some tang where the cottage cheese doesn't.
You could also add vinegar but I keep forgetting. I want to try adding dijon mustard or dill, also!

As many have said humous and veggies are great, as are salads.
With my salads i'll often make some roast butternut squash, or some baked tofu for my dinner, and save half for my salad.
Also ricecakes or crackers with low fat cottage cheese is tasty and has high protein if you eat cheese.

I like a tempeh wrap with siracha vegan mayo (mix siracha with vegan mayo). Lightly saute tempeh (can do day before) and put in a wrap with veggies and hummus.