For those who are vegetarian and work all day, it is sometimes difficult to find varied options for lunch.
Below, you will find five delicious and easy recipes, ideal to consume outside the home. They are also very good ideas for children to take as lunch to school and, in this way, instill in them a healthy eating habit.
1. Vegetable and hummus sandwich
If you are tired of vegetarian sandwiches with few ingredients that do not fill you up, you may like this option. On the one hand, hummus provides our body with the fiber and protein required to be healthy. On the other hand, raw vegetables are a very important source of nutrients.
Ingredients:
– 2 slices of bread
– 2 tablespoons of hummus (processed chickpeas with a drizzle of olive oil)
– 2 slices of cucumber
– 2 slices of tomato
– 3 slices of avocado
– 1 cup of bean sprouts
– ¼ cup grated carrot
Process:
1. Toast the bread
2. Spread both slices of bread with hummus
3. Add the vegetables and enjoy this delicious sandwich.
2. Spicy Sweet Potato Salad
The sweet potato helps to regulate the amount of sugar in the blood and to lose weight. Due to its sweet taste, it combines very well with red pepper and jalapeños. This recipe is a salad with an intense and delicious flavor. You can cook for dinner and save the leftovers for the next day, the hours of rest suit you very well!
Ingredients:
– 4 medium sweet potatoes
– ½ cup of olive oil
– ¼ cup of white vinegar
– 1 medium red bell pepper (diced, core and seeds removed)
– 2 teaspoons of cumin
– Salt and pepper to taste
– 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
– ½ cup sliced green onion
– ½ cup mint leaves
– 1 or 2 chilies (can be jalapeños) fresh
– ¼ cup of raisins (optional)
Process:
1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into cubes. Place them in a baking dish with two tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook for thirty minutes until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside (you can use a fork to check for doneness). Remove from the oven and store in the dish.
2. Mix the sweet potatoes with the mint leaves, the green onion, the jalapeños and the raisins.
3. Put in a blender six tablespoons of oil, vinegar, pepper, cumin and orange zest. Season with salt and pepper and blend until smooth.
4. Gradually add the dressing to the sweet potatoes. Serve or store in a closed container at room temperature.
3. Salad based on noodles and vegetables
Pasta is a typical vegetarian dish. However, a plate of pasta provides many calories and carbohydrates to our body. That is why it is not good to abuse them. A good idea to consume them and that they provide more nutrients, is to incorporate the noodles in vegetable salads. This recipe will provide less than 215 calories and a large percentage of vitamins A and C.
Note: You can replace the pasta with brown rice and thus turn your salad into a gluten-free dish.
Ingredients:
– ¼ cup of white vinegar
– 2 tablespoons of olive oil
– 400 gr of cooked noodles
– 3 cucumbers cut into cubes
– 1 teaspoon dried basil
– 1 teaspoon dried oregano
– 2 red bell peppers, diced
-2 diced yellow bell peppers
– 3 stalks of celery in cubes
– ½ cup grated carrot
– 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
Process
- 1. Whisk together the vinegar and olive oil.
2. In another bowl put the noodles and add the mixture of olive oil and vinegar. Add the basil and oregano and mix everything. - 3. Add pickles and grated carrot and mix.
4. Once everything is mixed, add two tablespoons of the dijon mustard and continue stirring. - 5. Wait for it to cool down and serve.
4. Lentils with cumin and quinoa (vegan and gluten-free dish)
Not everything is salad for vegetarians. There are hot dishes full of nutrients. This dish provides a large amount of protein, fiber and flavor, and contains less than 400 calories. This recipe makes six servings
Ingredients:
For the quinoa
– 1 cup of hydrated quinoa
– 2 cups of vegetable broth
– 2 peeled carrots cut into cubes
– 1 can of black beans
– Salt and pepper
For the lentils
– 1 tablespoon of olive oil
– 1 onion
– 100 grams of chopped tomatoes
– 200 grams of hydrated lentils
– 6 stalks of celery
– 250 ml of vegetable broth
– 4 peeled and chopped carrots
– 1 teaspoon ground coriander
– 1 teaspoon ground cumin
– Salt and pepper
Process:
1. Place the quinoa and vegetable broth in a pot and put on the heat. When it is boiling, lower the heat and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Add the carrots and beans and cook for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, put olive oil in a pot and sauté the onion. Add the tomatoes, lentils, vegetable broth, celery, carrots, and spices. Cover the pot and cook over medium heat for an hour (or until the lentils are soft).
3. Mix the quinoa with the lentils and serve.
5. Sauteed Cauliflower Rice
This recipe is low in sodium and provides a good dose of vitamin A and C. It is very easy to make and takes no more than 15 minutes to prepare.
Ingredients:
– 2 cups of cauliflower
– 2 tablespoons coconut or olive oil (or mix)
– 1 red onion sliced
– 4 cloves of garlic
– Coarse salt
– 250 ml low sodium vegetable broth
– 1 tablespoon grated ginger
– 1 thin slice of chili
– 2 cups of broccoli or bean sprouts
– 1 carrot cut in julienne
– ½ bell pepper cored, seeded and diced
– Juice of half a lemon
– 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
– 2 tablespoons coriander leaves
Process:
1. Cut the cauliflower into small pieces. You can do it with a food processor.
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- 2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add half a sliced red onion and two cloves of garlic. Cook for six minutes. Then add the coarse salt and the chopped cauliflower.
- 3. Add the vegetable broth and cook with the pot covered until the liquid evaporates and the cauliflower is tender. Transfer it to a bowl and let it rest.
- 4. Clean the saucepan and heat a tablespoon of oil over medium/high heat. Add the other half of the red onion and cook five minutes until tender. Add the other two cloves of garlic, the ginger and the chili and cook for one more minute.
- 5.Add the broccoli sprouts, carrot and bell pepper and cook five more minutes. Season with the salt. Take the pot off the heat and add the lemon juice.
6. Serve and add in each portion some pumpkin seeds and coriander leaves
- 2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add half a sliced red onion and two cloves of garlic. Cook for six minutes. Then add the coarse salt and the chopped cauliflower.
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