How to make a nutrient packed lunch: 30 Days of Wellness

I’ve found that while lots of people do well with breakfast and dinner, lunch often falls behind a bit in nutrition stakes.

So what’s a good lunch? It’s a mixture of lean protein, wholegrain/low GI carbohydrates, vegetables and a little healthy fats.
A small portion of wholegrain carbohydrates provides a steady release of energy throughout the afternoon, while lean protein helps keep you feeling fuller for longer.  At lunch, we still want to make sure we’re getting a serve of vegetables – minimum 1 cup of vegetables is a good guideline.   Last but not least, a serve of healthy fats is important too – some nuts, avocado or olive oil are good additions to get a dose for good skin and heart health.

Vegetable base ideas:

• Cherry tomatoes,  cucumber slices, black olives, red onion and baby spinach
• Grated carrot, avocado slices, rocket, baby spinach, red onion
•  Baby beetroot, sprouts, grated carrot
• roasted pumpkin + Brussels sprouts with red onion

Image found here

Carbohydrate options:

• quinoa
• brown rice
• wholegrain wrap/bread/bread roll
• kumara
• pumpkin (counts as a vegetable and carbohydrate serve, but is less starchy than potato/kumara)

Protein options:

• Chickpeas (these provide carbohydrate also)
• Lentils (these provide carbohydrate also)
• Chicken
• Tuna
• Salmon
• lean red meat (left overs are good)

Healthy fats:

• avocado (1/4 small avocado is a serving size)
• nuts
• seeds
• olive oil, or olive oil based dressing
• macadamia nut oil
• avocado oil

Here’s what it might look like:

1. Superfoods salad
Here we have lots of different coloured vegetables/kumara as our source of healthy carbohydrates/1 tablespoon of pumpkin seeds as our healthy fats. Add 1/2 a cup of chickpeas or 50g of chicken and you’ll have a filling, nutrient rich lunch.

2. Mini Frittatas
The egg here gives you a good source of protein. Serve with some veges on the side along with a sprinkle of seeds for a healthy lunch. Find the recipe here

3.Pumpkin and Chickpea Salad
Add a handful or two of baby spinach for extra vegetables and you’ve got a great lunch.  Find the recipe here

 

 What’s your favourite healthy lunch?