If you want to start eating raw lunches or are bored of eating Salad, then get ready to be inspired! You’ll find it easy to get creative and try out these quick ideas for satisfying and delicious mid-day meals.
What I eat for my Raw Lunch
My lunches tend to be quite similar because I love my Salad, but 2 or 3 times a week I’ll get a bit more creative. The important thing is to make sure, what ever you eat, you have filled up enough so you don’t want to eat brownies and crisps in the afternoon!
My non-Salad staples are quick and easy because I don’t want to spend hours over my lunch. In between Salad days, I eat Nori Wraps with ever-changing fillings (see this months Recipe above), Raw Soups (such as Spinach, Avocado & Ginger or Spicy Tomato), and delicious raw Dips with dehydrated Crackers. Each of these meals has endless scope for variation, which keeps me looking forward to lunch every day.
Some More Ideas for You!
Another really easy lunch is stuffed, filled or dipped Veggies. This one does mean that you have to make a dip or pate to do the stuffing, filling and dipping with, but I make up enough Guacamole, raw Hummus or Nut Pate to last me a few days and keep it in the fridge. The veggies I stuff or fill are Red, Yellow or Orange Peppers, big Tomatoes and Celery (they’re like long boats!). You can also cut Cucumber and Courgettes length-ways and scoop out some of the flesh and stuff them too.
Eating Raw at Work
People often get de-railed at lunchtime because they don’t know how to eat raw at work. It’s important to make sure you eat enough because you’re using your brain and/or body harder than normal when you’re doing your job. Drinking lots of water during your working day will keep your brain sharp and your body supple too.
Take a big (I mean, like a dinner-plate-full amount) tupperware of salad with you to work. I make mine up of Greens (Lettuce, Spinach, Herbs, Cabbage etc.), Tomatoes, half a Red, Yellow or Orange Pepper, and then add a more fatty or starchy element like an Avocado, raw Corn on the Cob, or a dressing with at least one handful of soaked and rinsed Nuts or Seeds in it. Remember that Avocado is hard to digest when eaten together with Nuts and Seeds, so don’t mix them unless you don’t mind being windy through the afternoon!
Some people are fuelled better with starchy vegetables, like Avocado and Corn, whilst others thrive on more protein, like the Nuts and Seeds. Work out which Salad combo sits best in your stomach and which gives you the energy you want – Greens with Avo/Sweetcorn OR Greens with Nuts/Seeds.
You can also take stuffed Veg (see above) with you too, if you feel you need something more.
My dressing is always a simple one of Olive Oil and Cider Vinegar, sometimes with some mustard (non raw) thrown in. I make a bottle of it at the beginning of the week or at the weekend to last me all week, putting it on my Salad just before I have it.
When eating a raw lunch it’s important to remember that your body will be processing it more efficiently than a stodgy sandwich or cooked meal so you’ll probably need to do a raw refuel later in the afternoon. Refuel with fresh Fruit, a raw treat or Smoothie. I take Smoothies with me in a flask, with a couple of cubes of ice to keep it fresh til the afternoon.
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