What do you pack for lunch?
I don't bring a lunch every day since there are so many great places in the neighborhood. When I do pack a lunch it usually contains: few pieces of fruit, some nuts, possibly an Odwalla juice, a sandwich, or simple bean & cheese burritto, sometimes a salad...
What're you packin?
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31 Comments:
There are limited options where I work, so I am very conscientious about packing lunch.
I usually bring leftovers from the night before, but, if there aren't any, I usually throw together some pasta and veggies. My recent go-to has been penne with roasted zucchini and eggplant and fresh tomatoes - I make a big bunch of roasted eggplant and zucchini on Sunday when I get back from the farmers market and use it throughout the week.
Fresh fruit is always part of my lunch, and recently it has been a variety of apples (although I am very much missing upstate NY appples, nothing compares to them!).
When I lived in NYC, I would treat myself once a week to a purchased lunch, but where I work now has horrible options, so I have to bring my lunch with me almost every single day (unless I want to walk 5 blocks to get Subway).
charm city cupcake at 8:30PM on 10/19/07
It's usually a cold cut sandwich with about a salad's worth of greens on it plus a piece of fruit. I was taking a multi-course Japanese style meal of rice, soup, veg, and protein in one of these gadgets, but that got to be like a second job.
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 10:07PM on 10/19/07
always, always, a big container of raw cut up veggies -- carrots, fennel, cucumbers, jicama, snow peas, cherry tomatoes, etc. i have that before i have anything else.
the "else" part is usually leftovers from dinner, or failing that, a couple of hardboiled eggs or cold roast chicken, some cheese and crackers, a handful of nuts, an orange or apple.
cybercita at 11:54PM on 10/19/07
Pita chips.
Grapes (or whatever fruit I have on hand).
And whatever sandwich I made that morning. Lately tuna salad, egg salad, or mozz-tomato-basil. The sandwich usually tastes pretty meh by the time I eat it (because its been sitting in its own juices for a few hours...ew, soggy) but hey, sustenance is sustenance.
roboppy at 2:50AM on 10/20/07
I am horrible about lunch in that I never eat a proper meal. Usually because I have a lecture or i'm just never hungry (small people have small stomaches!)
But I do graze, and that can be anything random from chocolate, fresh fruit, dried fruit, crackers and cut up veggies (like carrot, celery or cucumber) with some hummus or other dip
choc_puddin at 5:58AM on 10/20/07
Glad to see I'm not the only one who likes leftovers for lunch! I usually add a piece of fruit or a fruit salad, too, or if there are no leftovers in the fridge, I make a spinach salad with some thawed frozen shrimp.
woodenspoon at 9:09AM on 10/20/07
Most often it's Fage yogurt, a piece of seasonal fresh fruit & something sweet---usually a piece of chocolate :)
JEP at 4:08PM on 10/20/07
One the rare occasions that I'm not working at home--edamame, Laughing Cow, Kavli, fruit. I generally don't eat lunch per se, though, I just munch on these throughout the day.
Barbara Hanson at 8:02AM on 10/21/07
I used to have to pack my lunch at five in the morning, so it had to be as simple as possible! Usually it was a few slices of whole wheat or 9 grain bread with Laughing Cow cheese, fruit, and probably some nuts or chocolate, nothing that required immediate assembly. Sometimes I'd go out on a limb and make a sandwich or a salad. I pretty much never brought leftovers because I like my lunch and dinner foods to be different.
Christina at 2:47PM on 10/21/07
When do Serious Eaters pack their lunches? In the morning or the night before?
Christina at 2:48PM on 10/21/07
i pack my lunch in my tin lunch pail the morning before i leave for the day. lately it's been a bowl of brown rice, lentils, roasted butternut squash, spicy arugula, avocado, and cherry tomatoes with olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. i also rarely do leftovers because i love to eat a variety of things.
tudogostoso at 4:14PM on 10/21/07
Recently I've been making a big batch of soup on weekends and then just bringing that for lunch, with some fruit. Last week it was cauliflower and this week it's going to be roasted garlic and butternut squash. I'm excited.
I definitely do leftovers sometimes (I don't mind having "the same thing" because there's breakfast between last night's dinner and today's lunch), as well as salads and sandwiches.
I'm a poor student so I generally don't buy lunch but sometimes the options at the cafeteria are actually pretty tempting!
Vincci at 5:42PM on 10/21/07
I never pack a lunch.
paris221966 at 7:13PM on 10/21/07
I make a lunch the night before - a sandwich, usually ham or turkey, provolone cheese, mayo, mustard, greens, and hot peppers and then some fruit and potato chips or triscuits :)
Chau at 8:58PM on 10/21/07
I love wraps. I just fill a tortilla with deli turkey, swiss cheese, and maybe some baby spinach and a pickle, and I am in heaven. If I were at home for lunch, I'd probably warm the wrap a little to melt the cheese.
hubble59 at 9:36AM on 10/22/07
Usually leftovers from the night before (or the weekend if I actually get to cook something yummy) or a sandwich I've thrown together that morning. Always some sort of vegetable and occasionally some fruit, tho fruit is typically a snack. I like salads with grilled/roasted chicken with lots of extra vegetables, too. Leftovers from a meal out are good for work lunches, too.
The small town in which I work has mostly fast food joints (midwest fare, nothing good like in-n-out or other regional places. Woe is me!) and I'm not allowed to leave for lunch so it doesn't really matter! There are times when I rebel and sneak out- especially if my co-worker wants something, then I head to the local Mexican market for some kick-arse enchiladas and Coke in a glass bottle...heavenly!
AuntJone at 11:22AM on 10/22/07
I pack lunch every day. I assemble the sandwiches on Sundays. English muffin with veggie cheese (moza, cheddar and/or jalapeño cheddar), and also bring some veggies (broccoli, spinach) or chicken or an apple or yogurt ro accmpany and have either oat bran cereal with raisins or honey and oat crackers for dessert.
cristi at 11:39AM on 10/22/07
Just finished a bowl of onion soup that I made a few weeks ago and froze - didn't even miss the crouton and Gruyere! Soup is usually my favorite, but I like salads with leftovers of the protein from the night before, such as roasted chicken. Also like wraps, but don't add the lettuce, tomato, avocado until just before I eat it, for obvious reasons. Add some fresh fruit and nuts for the afternoon snack and I'm set to go.
Have good intentions of making all this the night before, but never do.
Sometimes a fellow foodie here at work and I take turns making lunch to share. We usually make a new recipe and then critique it. We have done a lot of different salads, some sandwiches and sometimes include a dessert. It's a good way to try something out and not have to eat the whole recipe yourself!
Kimc54 at 2:14PM on 10/22/07
leftovers, if we have them. if not, then i make sandwiches from whole-grain bread, hummus, sprouts and tomato slices.
j at 2:16PM on 10/22/07
I don't like to eat early in the morning, so I pack a breakfast to eat at work, and I go home and have leftovers at lunch time.
Breakfast is an english muffin with a small chunk of cheese and a big thermos of tea- ginger peach or blackberry sage.
Kerosena at 2:33PM on 10/22/07
Back in my office-worker days I used to make an enormous wok-full of stir-fried veggies (usually Barbara Tropp's recipe for Buddha's Delight -- yum!), and I'd pack that on top of freshly made brown rice. I like room-temp Chinese food, and the topping would keep the rice from getting chilled and nasty. For breakfast, I bought jalapeno corn muffins from Fred at the Union Square Greenmarket and froze them wrapped in tin foil. I'd stick one in the oven when I made my coffee, and retrieve it just as I was walking out the door; by the time I got to the office, it would be thawed and warm and the perfect temp for eating at my desk with my first cup of office-coffee.
maggiesara at 3:24PM on 10/22/07
Today I've got a sandwich made this morning. Turkey and brie with sliced apple and honey mustard and an apple. I also bring breakfast which is nearly always a fat free yogurt with granola mixed in. I keep the granola at my desk and bring a yogurt every day. I'll either go with a sandwich or make a batch of chicken salad or chick pea salad at the begining of the week and portion that out each day with greens.
VerasTastyFreeze at 10:27AM on 10/23/07
I either pack a veggie stew that I make and love and have that w/a salad, or, my very favorite because I somehow never grew up past 10 years old - chunky peanut butter and banana on whole wheat bread. Love it. The only problem is that when I pack it, I end up eating it way before lunch because it keeps calling to me. Let me say that I am not a fan of fresh peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I much prefer then when they've been sitting in their foil wrapper for a couple of hours. Mostly though, I eat out/order in.
rockykay at 3:09PM on 10/23/07
lunch for me is the most boring, non-creative meal of the day. a half a whole wheat sandwich piled with lunchmeat. and that's it. i also eat breakfast at work, which is Kashi oatmeal with vanilla soymilk. midmorning i have some yogurt. then in the afternoon after lunch i have a protein bar.
i can see i need to add some veggies and fruit to this! but the simplicity of it is the only way to keep me from ordering delivery with coworkers (unhealthy and tempting options like thai, chinese, mexican, carribean, burgers, etc). i'm inspired by this post and i think i will try to cook up some mixed veggies that i like and season them how i do, and then portion those out throughout the week. and maybe i can add fruit to my breakfast.
www.lanaberry.com
lanaberry at 4:01PM on 10/23/07
peanut butter and jelly. or stir-fry (any meat + any vegetable)
foodinmouth at 4:47PM on 10/23/07
either leftovers or i make a big batch of soup for a week of lunches. always fruit too. sometimes i also make muffins for a mid-morning snack.
my office buys in baps (rolls) that most people eat for breakfast. for a while i was brining in sandwich fixings and taking advantage of the free bread.
this week i made a big pot of cauliflower cheese soup with dill.
astarteny at 9:32AM on 10/24/07
i am hungriest at lunchtime. i can see why spaniards and italians eat big during the day and then siesta time. wish we americans had siesta. i work near a lot of great restaurants so a few times a week i bop over to taim, via emilia or pio maya--i find if i eat a big lunch i'll only eat edamame or crackers or something small for dinner. if i pack a lunch it's usually leftovers-- today thai red curry and a salad or sometimes i'll buy a baguette on the way to the subway and bring a tomato, some brie and some salami with me.
Lexie at 1:05PM on 10/24/07
I usually bring soup or a sandwich and a piece of fruit. In the winter especially, I'll make a big pot of soup on the weekend and then bring that to work for lunch every day with a piece of bread and some fruit.
KitchenKore at 1:27PM on 10/24/07
I usually make my lunch in the morning. Usually I make sandwiches and pack fruit. Today I packed pita with hummus and a banana that unfortunately exploded in my handbag.
takoyaki_GO at 2:50PM on 10/24/07
I usually eat lunch out 2 times per week. On the other 3 days, it's a salad -- usually a tossed green salad with whatever veggies are in the fridge and a can of Italian tuna, or a caesar salad with bacon and reggiano shavings. I make it in the morning before I head off to work.
earlydrive at 12:43PM on 10/25/07
My current lunch consists of tuna salad combined with whole wheat rotini pasta, a peanut butter (natural) and jelly sandwich on 9 grain bread, a handful of chopped carrots and half of a Clif Builder's protein bar. I use non-fat mayo in the tuna salad. All-in-all, it's a pretty healthy lunch, low in bad fat, a moderate amount of good fat, lots of whole grain and a decent amount of protein. I need more ruffage, but I'm working on that!
digitalburro at 10:06PM on 10/25/07