Winter Lunch Ideas

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Working at home today and it is so cold. When I am typing along the way, I can’t help but thinking ……. What’s for LUNCH!! I remember a few times in my consultations, I had some lovely people said, “During summer, I am fine with having a salad for lunch. But when winter comes, I struggle with ideas”. So I am going to share with you all a few of my winter lunch choices.

 

If you have other good ideas that works really well for you, please do share with others in the comment section. We are stronger when we are united and supported by each other 🙂

 

  1. Chunky Soup

Imagine in front of you there is a bowl, you can see the steam in the distance and when you touch the bowl with your hands, the heat just keeps your hands warm instantly like having an open fire close to you. Soup is definitely a winner during the winter. However, the problem with store-bought soup is that too much salt and preservatives. Also it is too watery, it can be digested too quickly and thus you get hungry soon after your meal. But if we eat it with more bread to fill us up, it may cause a big raise in your blood glucose level.

So, my solution to this is a chunky soup.

For example, adding barley or chickpeas in your silky pumpkin soup. Choose Italian minestrone soup which are chunky, loads with lots of high fibre vegetables and legumes. They help to slow down the digestion and keep you feel fuller for longer.soup

If you are interested, try my recipe below: (makes 6)

  • 1 kg of butternut or kent pumpkin, peeled and diced into 2 cm cubes
  • 1 tin (400g) of no added salt chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 litre of water
  • ½ cup of skim evaporated milk
  • 2tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp of smoked paprika
  • cracked pepper, to season

Firstly, in a large saucepan, bring the water to boil. Add pumpkin and cooked until softened. Drain the pumpkin and then put them in a blender. Blend it with the evaporated milk, curry powder, paprika, pepper. You can add ½ cup of the boiled water back in the blender if the soup is too thick to your liking. Pour the blended pumpkin mixture back in the saucepan and add the chickpeas, bring the soup to boil and ready to serve.

Nutrition information:   Energy 690kJ; Fats: 2.5g; Sat Fats: 0.4g; Carbohydrate: 22.7g; Sodium: 142mg; estimated low GI.

 

  1. Glass jar noodle soup

A warm noodle soup definitely is one of my favourite! Using a glass jar, it is so easy to carry. All you need to do is:

Add the Chinese cabbage, lettuce or baby spinach, diced carrots and peas with some leftover roasted chicken, boiled egg, tofu, tin tuna or diced ham in the bottom of the jar. Add 1 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of five spice mix, 1 teaspoon of fine chopped garlic or low salt stock powder. Top it with half a cup of dried rice vermicelli noodles. You can add shallots, coriander or other herbs you like. Keep the jar in the fridge until lunch. When it is lunch time. All you need is a pot of hot water added to the jar. Close the lid and wait for 5 minutes. You can eat it out of the jar or tip it out in a bowl and serve.

 

  1. Warm Salad

Cold weather and salad seems to be very distant from each other. But we all know that the fibre from the salad vegetables and the protein are the reason we feel satiate with our meal. So, here is one of my favourite warm salad recipe (makes 2 serves).

  • Pumpkin, 1 cup dicedQuinoa
  • zucchini, 1 cup diced
  • ¼ red onion, sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic, chopped
  • 1 red capsicum, diced
  • 1 small handful baby spinach
  • handful of roasted walnuts
  • olive oil, 1 tbsp
  • 1tbsp of lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp of honey
  • cracked pepper to taste
  • ½ cup of quinoa, cooked and drained as per package

Firstly, roast all the vegetables (except the spinach) in a baking tray with the oil. Combine the lemon juice with honey and mixed with the quinoa, spinach, nuts and the roasted vegetable and serve.

 

Nutrition information: Energy 1270kJ; Carbohydrate: 26.5g; Total Fats: 17g; Sat. fats: 1.8g; sodium: 11mg, estimate low GI.

 

Enjoy!