Rebecca Dickinson - Love your lunches: vibrant & healthy recipes to brighten up your day

CONTENTSLUNCH IS AT THE HEART of our days. The mid-work sanctuary, where we find a well-justified moment of rest, recuperation, and most importantly, a chance to dig into little boxes of daily fuel. Theres no underestimating the power of a delicious, impending lunch. It works as a propeller to push us through the morning yawn and cups of tea, onto our well-deserved and highly anticipated meal. Long gone are the days of the soggy cheese white-bread sandwiches that donned the squashed imprints of the insides of our bag. Lunch envy has become a true reality, and the pain of being the onlooker (smeller and scavenger) of anothers carefully packed food is enough to send us back to the kitchen and dreaming of a better meal as we stab the dry salad we bought at the local supermarket.

We are always told not to skip breakfast, but at some point lunch has become a fallback for which we rely on the sandwich shops or the questionable two-minute mac n cheese. But no longer! Its time to reclaim our lunch break. Lets provide ourselves with something to look forward to, and brighten our days right when we need it most, with meals that are fresh and sustaining and will nourish you from the inside out. This book has got something to suit a varying range of time contraints, budgets and tastes. Its all about bringing back the packed lunch, but this time, in a more celebrated form. Most recipes can be adapted to suit whats available at hand, and while some methods do require a little bit more time than a ready-made salad or soup from your local deli, your energy levels, tastebuds, and hungry work colleagues will thank you for it.

PLANNING AHEAD ONE OF THE KEY COMPONENTS TO LOCK IN A SUCCESSFUL WEEK OF PACKED LUNCHES IS PREPARING AHEAD. WHILST THIS MAY SOUND LIKE A TEDIOUS TASK THAT ONLY THE HEAVILY ORGANISED PARTAKE IN, ONCE YOU GET INTO A ROUTINE, ITS EASY! WEEKLY MENU To save a night-before rush, use the therapeutic minutes of the weekend to flick through these pages and mark anything that jumps out at you. Write a list and note the recipes that make multiple servings so you can roll them over into a few days of lunches. Is there anything youve previously frozen ahead? Its time to utilise all your freezer ammunition, and use up any sad-looking vegetables. Find a recipe to slot them into and hail this chance to get creative with your cooking. Knowing the weather forecast for the week will not only ensure you have an umbrella at dire times, but also help you anticipate what food youll be in the mood for, as nothing is quite as disorientating as a hot soup on a sweltering day.

Your planning can even take into account the weeks to come with frozen meals. Have some for lunch one day, and freeze ahead for the next month. This planning may even soon become your favourite way to spend your Sunday afternoons youve been warned. SHOPPING LISTS Once youve written out the lunch meals for the week, to save on money and waste, consult the fridge and pantry first. The majority of grains in the book can be substituted for whatever alternative you have available, and starchy vegetables and leafy greens are usually interchangeable. A list will help you stay on track in the supermarket, and avoid any impulse buys.

As a bonus, youll also save on multiple trips to the shops, meaning more time in the kitchen! Add any must-purchase staples that have been used up to your list, so youre already one step closer to preparing your next meal with ease. MAKING EXTRA Being ahead of the lunch bandwagon can be as simple as making a little extra at mealtimes to ensure ease when putting your lunch together. This can be cooking extra vegetables for your Sunday roast (perfect for the ) or quickly simmering some grains on the hob, which freeze perfectly and are ready to go after defrosting in the microwave or in the fridge overnight. Never underestimate these small advancements; your Monday self will thank you for it when lunch is effortlessly placed into a container, ready to go. During the preparation for the week ahead, make sure you allow a little time to make your afternoon snacks. THE STAPLES Having a key set of ingredients ready to go in your kitchen and your desk drawer is the full set of ammo you will need to make you the master of successful lunches. THE STAPLES Having a key set of ingredients ready to go in your kitchen and your desk drawer is the full set of ammo you will need to make you the master of successful lunches.

In this book, there is a chapter dedicated to maintaining staples and using those cupboard . While it may seem a bit of a drag to purchase something you wont use immediately, it is the essence of investment cooking, and looking out for your future hungry self. Keep an eye on when to refill your ingredient stock and always double-check before shopping (being caught without lemons is a scary reality). Once youre in the staples sync, youll build up a prized range of ingredients at your disposal. While we all have a slightly different array of must-have ingredients in our own kitchens, heres a helpful list to inspire a range of staples to suit a variety of lunches. Once stored in your kitchen, you wont know how you cooked without them.

CUPBOARD bread (pita, rye, soda, wholewheat) dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) dried fruit (apricots, dates, sultanas) flour (buckwheat, plain, wholewheat) nut selection (almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts) rolled oats seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, pine nuts) TINNED black beans
cannellini beans
chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
sardines
sweetcorn
tomatoes
tuna JARRED clear honey
miso paste
mustard
nut butter
olives
passata
peppers
pesto
sun-dried tomatoes (in oil)
tahini
tomato pure (paste) GRAINS & PASTA barley
buckwheat
bulgur wheat
couscous
fresh and dried lentils (green, red)
pasta (regular, spelt, wholewheat)
quinoa
rice (basmati, brown, wild) DRIED HERBS & SPICES bay leaves
black peppercorns
cayenne pepper
chilli flakes
cumin seeds
dukkah
garam masala
ground cinnamon
ground nutmeg
ground turmeric
harrissa paste
medium curry powder
oregano
paprika (smoked, sweet)
rosemary
sea salt
sumac
thyme
zatar FRUIT, VEGETABLES & GREENS apples
avocados
bananas
carrots