Lunch Ideas

Curry beef puff from Asian bakery and leftover veggies of bok choy,
zucchini and bell peppers

I've written about Wok Breakfasts and One-dish Wok Meals, all cooked in my lightweight, cast iron wok so the only meal missing is Lunch!

Leftover grilled hoisin salmon with spinach, red onion,
dried cranberry, quinoa salad.

Leftover from cooking class: Tilapia, toufu puffs, zucchini,
bell peppers, brown rice made into a curry soup.

Salad of field greens, spinach, jicama,
tomatoes, dried cranberries.

There's Lunch for my husband and Lunch for me. Lunch for him is easy, usually I make more dinner and he'll have that. I always pack him a fresh fruit salad, same way I make my Healthy and Delicious Snack.

Leftovers from cooking class: soy chicken, yellow squash,
bell peppers heated in wok with chili garlic sauce dip.
Salad with romaine lettuce, cranberries, cubed jicama,
bell peppers, scallions with French Vinaigrette dressing.

Toufu with salad of field greens, pumpkin seeds,
dried cranberries with naan. Longans for dessert.

Fresh salad is a must on a daily basis, my body craves raw veggies. Lunch for me is usually leftovers from dinner, my cooking classes or food that needs clearing out from the fridge. Some eaten cold, some warmed up in my wok.

Toufu puff with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cubed jicama,
bell peppers with wholewheat toast.

I'm constantly saying it takes longer for me to make lunch than my dinner because you need lots of fixings to make it interesting. Whereas it's so easy for dinner, it just takes 2 veggies and a protein to make a one-dish meal.

Leftover char siu warmed in wok, Laurenzo's Greek salad
and Italian bread.

Some typical fixings:
tomatoes, cucumber, marinaded artichokes, cubed jicama, chayote, bell peppers and scallions (all leftovers from Rainbow Lettuce Wraps when I give cooking classes). Quinoa adds an extra protein hit to help balance your protein/carb ratio especially for diabetics.

Here are some ingredients I use to make my own salad dressing:

Eden Selected Ume Plum Vinegar, Rice wine vinegar,
San-J Tamari, Sesame Oil

I love trying different salad dressings:

La Sandwicherie French Vinaigrette, dried cranberries,
pumpkin seeds

Also try Annie's Goddess Salad Dressing, Makoto Ginger Carrot Dressing
Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce, Eden Gomasio Black & Tan Sesame
Seeds & Sea Salt, Ocho Rios Jerk seasoning

I don't measure, just taste and adjust seasonings. For a simple dressing, here's a rough proportion: about 4 tblsp. olive oil, half of fresh lime juice, pinch sea salt, teaspoon mustard, few shakes of chili flakes (also curry powder or jerk seasoning). Put in a small jar and shake it up.

Here are some dispensers I use to make pouring my dressing easier, you can pick them up at Asian markets and dollar stores:

Salad dressing, Chili Flakes, spare dressing dispenser

Here are a few lunch blogs that may fuel you with ideas:

This beautiful blog is by lady architects:
http://lunchstudio.blogspot.com/

Talking about lady architects, Wok Star Amy, a lovely Malaysian lady architect living in LA cooks many lunches for her husband in her wok:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amytanwl/Bento#

Ah, I actually deleted the section on Tiffin Carriers because it's a whole other blog. But I think this is a great lunch blog:
http://tiffintin.net/

This Lunchboxbunch blog has tons of kid friendly ideas:
http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/08/back-to-school-series-ten-lunchbox.html

For our vegan friends:
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/

Chicken sausage with field greens, tomatoes, jicama, pumpkin seeds and quinoa salad.

I would love to hear how you come up with your lunch ideas. Keep ideas for packed lunches for another blog though...If you liked this, share it with your friends...

Other Wok Meals you'll enjoy: