10 Fresh, Healthy Lunches You Can Take to Work

No Comments | Written on July 16, 2012 at 5:00 pm, by Ann Hodgman

Roasted Chicken Salad with Garlic Toasts

We know you're a busy person—probably too busy to roast a chicken just to make chicken salad for yourself. Luckily, this recipe actually works better with store-bought rotisserie chicken, which has exactly the right amount of seasoning for the greens.

Green Gazpacho

A Thermos is great for packing hot soups. But since this is summer, we want cold soups. And a Lock & Lock container (as I'm always telling people) works great for those. Here's an unusual green gazpacho that's a bit more substantial than the tomato kind—perfect for lunch.

Healthy Caesar Salad

There's a 99.9% chance that if you were in a restaurant for lunch right now, you'd be ordering a Caesar salad. Why not bring your own? This one has a lighter-than-average dressing that's even better than the restaurant kind.

Shrimp and Watermelon Salad

We're so lucky that watermelon has moved up in the world. It's one of summer's greatest pleasures, and now that people are finally using it in salads, we can eat lots more of it.

Easy Hummus with Tahini

Hummus is another easy-to-pack, easy-to-make veggie lunch dish. You'll get Brownie points for eating so many raw vegetables at lunchtime (but you won't deserve them, because this hummus is absolutely delicious).

Tabbouleh with Edamame and Feta

Tabbouleh + edamame + tangy feta = 18 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber per serving. Where was this beautiful salad back when I still worked in an office?

Chipotle Beef Wraps

These low-carb, low-fat, high-flavor wraps feature a chipotle mayo that would make any sandwich delicious—but wraps are so much more fun than plain bread.

Soy-Lime Roasted Tofu

NEVER! serve tofu without marinating it first. And NEVER! leave soy sauce out of the marinade. This simple dish tastes like way, way more than the sum of its parts. Roasting the tofu gives it a meaty texture that even non-vegetarians will love.

Deli-Style Submarines

Here are deli-delicious subs that are nowhere near as big as the kind you'd buy—a good reminder that limiting portion size will basically allow you to eat whatever you want...

Lemony Mixed Vegetables

On the other hand, some people don't like limiting portion size! That's where fresh vegetables come in. Most nutritionists, and most weight-loss programs, recommend that you eat all the vegetables you want. Well, you could eat this entire recipe and still not top 300 calories. With a wedge of cheese, that's a lunch worth packing.

Now, listen. It’s summer, and you should get out of the office at lunchtime. But please don’t rush off to a fast-food restaurant! Those places will suck the soul out of you. And their too-soft, too-salty, too-fried food will make you sleepy and cross.

Packing your own lunch is totally the way to go. For one thing, it will end up saving you a bunch of money, even if you splurge on a pretty lunchbox. For another, everyone will envy you, and knowing that you’re an object of envy makes it easier to get work done. Fresh food, freshly prepared, interesting, delicious and healthy … you’d better hide that lunchbox way in the back of the office fridge, or your co-workers will start sneaking bites.

Also, making your own lunch means you won’t accumulate any more of those little packages of soy sauce that you keep in your desk drawer along with the paper clips and Post-Its. Can’t you toss those? They’re getting dusty.