After a good breakfast, a nutritious lunch is the next step in a healthy, balanced diet. Our trick to ensuring we enjoy a healthy lunch during the week is firstly, to have a weekly menu plan, and secondly, to prep everything the night before. If you’re packing lunch for the office, buy yourself a stackable lunch box set like this eco-friendly set from Woolworths to keep everything fresh. You want to keep items like wraps and salad dressings separate to avoid everything turning into an unpleasant mush. Here’s a healthy lunch menu plan for a week featuring some of our current favourite delicious, nutritious recipes.

MONDAY: A CLEAN START

Inevitably there’s been (some) naughtiness on the weekend. We often feel the need for a super clean and healthy day to kick off our week. This ultra-simple salad courtesy of The Harvest Kitchen embraces the rainbow and is chock full of goodness. I make this in a larger quantity so that we can also enjoy it for dinner with a nice piece of fish.

Image: The Harvest Table

The ingredients – Colourful detox salad for 6

2 cups cauliflower

2 cups broccoli

1 cup red cabbage, roughly chopped

1 cup carrots, roughly chopped

1½ cups fresh parsley

2 celery stalks

½ cup almonds

½ cup sunflower seeds

For the vinaigrette dressing

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated

2 tablespoons raw honey

½ teaspoon sea salt

To make your detox salad

It couldn’t be simpler. Chop the salad ingredients up. You can do it by hand with a knife, or toss them into a food processor one-by-one and pulse until they’re chopped up. Whisk all the dressing ingredients together and refrigerate for at least an hour before using. The dressing gets better if allowed to stand for a bit. Add all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl, toss with the vinaigrette dressing and enjoy the goodness!

TUESDAY: MEXICAN TORTILLA SALAD

This recipe is inspired by one of my favourite dishes in the 2018 Annual Goop detox. It’s a tasty, crunchy, extremely satisfying salad. I hit a snag trying to find “grain free tortillas” which the original recipe called for. But then I found something better, an easy 5-minute cassava flour tortilla recipe. Although you can use store bought tortilla’s, these are so much tastier!

Image: GOOP

The salad ingredients – Serves 2

¼ cup crispy green apple, sliced into thick matchsticks

¼ cup celery, sliced

4 radishes, sliced thinly

½ an avocado, cubed

2 cups romaine lettuce, shredded

½ 400g can Black Beans (like these from Woolworths), drained and rinsed

Pickled red onions. You can make your own in a jiff with this super easy recipe, or buy these from Woolworths if you’re pressed for time.

1 Cassava flour tortilla. Make a batch on Sunday and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to use them during the week. Alternatively, you can buy these brown wheat flour wraps at Woolworths.

For the creamy avocado coriander dressing

3 green onions, sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

Zest of ½ lime

Juice of 2 limes

1 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped

½ an avocado

60ml soy-free Vegenaise (optional)

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon white pepper

Toss all the dressing ingredients together in a blender and blend on high until smooth.

To make

Slice the tortilla into thick strips. (You can either brush them with some olive oil and toast them to create “tortilla chips” or enjoy them as is if pushed for time.)

Place the black beans in a small pot with a healthy pinch of chopped fresh coriander, salt and ¼ teaspoon fresh, crushed garlic. If you like, you can add some fresh chilli or chilli flakes to the beans for some spice. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes. You can prep your beans ahead of time and refrigerate.

Combine all the salad ingredients together. Top with the pickled red onion, avo dressing, and tortilla strips. If you’re taking your healthy lunch to the office, place the dressing and tortilla strips in separate containers and then add it all together on a plate when ready to feast.

WEDNESDAY: BREAKFAST FOR LUNCH

This open-faced omelet is one of our favourite, yet easiest and superbly nutritious lunches.

Ingredients – Makes 1 open faced omelet with smoked salmon and avo

2 organic eggs

2 green/spring onions, chopped

1 heaped teaspoon of chopped fresh chives

Bunch of micro-greens

Handful of wild spinach

50g smoked salmon

¼ avo, sliced – optional but it’s so good for you

A fresh lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

To make

Heat a small nonstick pan over medium to low heat. I prep my pan with some nonstick cooking spray.

In a bowl, beat the eggs together with the spring onion and chives. Next, pour the egg mixture into the heated pan and gently cook until they set, about 2 to 3 minutes. (As the eggs set, gently push the eggs around in the pan – you basically want to move the cooked eggs toward the centre, letting the uncooked egg flow underneath.)

To serve place your omelet on a plate. Top with your fresh rocket and micro greens, layer with the smoked salmon and avo and finish off with a squeeze of fresh lemon. Feel free to add a dash of Tabasco or Sriracha Chilli Sauce if you like a little heat.

THURSDAY: ASIAN CHICKEN SALAD

This is even easier if you let Woolworths help out!

Ingredients – Serves 2

240g cooked chicken

1 220g pack of Woolworths Rainbow Salad – this salad has a perfect mix of fresh lettuce, red cabbage, raw beetroot, carrots, and celery

A handful of fresh coriander, chopped

4 spring onions, finely chopped

For the dressing

¼ cup fish sauce

¼ cup fresh lime juice

1 medium shallot, finely minced

¼ teaspoon chili flakes, or to taste

5 teaspoons coconut nectar or coconut sugar

To make your Asian chicken salad

Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Toss all the salad ingredients in a large bowl then add the dressing and serve.

FRIDAY: DIY POKE BOWL

Michelle and I are obsessed with poke bowls – what’s not to love! They’re colourful, fun to eat and packed with yumminess. This DIY version is a little different because it uses a more nutritious brown basmati rice. Alternatively, you can replace the rice with greens like a combination of broccoli, spinach and bok choy.

Image: Chew Out Loud

Ingredients – Serves 4

2 cups shredded romaine lettuce

2 cups sashimi-grade tuna and salmon, cubed

1 small cucumber, seeded and sliced

1 ripe mango or papaya, peeled and cubed

1 cup purple cabbage, sliced

1 cup pickled red onion

1 avocado, cubed

1 cup cooked edamame beans

2 cups cooked organic brown basmati rice

For the sesame-soy marinade/dressing

3 tablespoons good quality organic Tamari

1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon coconut blossom sugar

¼ teaspoon ginger powder

¼ teaspoon wasabi paste

To serve

Chopped fresh coriander, green onions, and toasted sesame seeds

Sriracha Mayo made up of 3 tablespoons of low fat mayo plus 1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce

To make your poke bowl

Make the sesame-soy marinade/dressing by whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl. Stir the cubed tuna/salmon into the marinade, coating it well. Cover and keep chilled until ready to assemble your poke bowls.

Divide the cooked rice into 4 smaller bowls. Then evenly layer each bowl with lettuce, the marinated tuna/salmon, cucumber, mango/papaya, avocado and edamame beans. Sprinkle with chopped coriander, green onions and sesame seeds. Drizzle with any remaining marinade and the Sriracha mayonnaise. Yum!

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