I believe this is the right place to post recipe threads, and I’m looking for some suggestions. So here’s what I need:
I’m going to college, and while I live at home (so the rest of my meals are taken care of) I need to eat lunch on campus. I’m getting very tired of eating the same old boring sandwiches every day, so I thought I’d ask for some advice. Special sandwiches toppings you like, or anything along those lines would also be great.
Here are some details:
I only have around 10 minutes between classes half of the week, so it has to be something that can be eaten fairly quickly.
It needs to be either eaten cold or something that can be kept warm, since I don’t think I’ll have access to a microwave or anything.
I’d prefer them to be at least slightly healthy. I’m not a health food nut, but no huge bars of chocolate.
I’d like it to be something that is fairly easy. I’m lazy, and I know if it’s too complex I’ll just go hungry. If it’s something that can be made in large batches and then used over the course of a week or something, that’s fine.
Something fairly filling would be preferable – not just a snack.
I thought it might be an interesting exercise for y’all… any comments or suggestions are MUCH appreciated. Hope I don’t sound too bossy or anything.
Break a head of cauliflower up into tiny florets, steam it for about 15 minutes, then toss with a chopped red onion, a half-cup of chopped Kalamata olives, and a can of tuna. A tablespoon of good olive oil and S&P to taste.
Shovel this mixture into a pita (should be enough for three or four good-sized sandwiches), with a leaf or two of good lettuce if desired, and pack along a fresh tomato.
[sub]Oh, yeah…I’m talking to a college student.
The tunafish should be REMOVED FROM THE CAN before combining with the cauliflower.[/sub]
Stuffed grape leaves are fun to make in a largish batch. They can be done either vegetarian or with meat. I even had some made with tuna once that weren’t bad at all. You need a big pot to steam them in, but no other special equipment.
For convenience you can’t beat a plain peanut butter sandwich. I have eaten literally thousands of these. Yes, it does get old after the first few hundred, but it’s quick, it’s cheap, and it’s full of protein, always a concern for me as I eat no red meat.
Your other best friend should be cheese. This requires a little more prep time than peanut butter, but allows for more variation. You can use different kinds of bread and cheese, whatever you like (I find a nice sharp cheese on a cranberry bagel to be quite delightful), and if you want to get fancy you can throw on some mustard or lettuce and tomato or something.
Dear Fellow Doper
Won’t you try my lunch
It took but minutes to cook
Won’t you take a munch?
Y’start with some tuna
By Ukey Ike
That’s stuffed into a pita
(though our Lola doesn’t like
His paper bag luncheon)
Paper bag lunches!
Fellow college student checking in… egg salad is easy. My roommate and I make it with hard-boiled eggs, Miracle Whip, mustard, salt, and pepper. Sometimes paprika and parsley. (I don’t know if this is run-of-the-mill for you or not… I hadn’t ever had it before this summer!). If you like chicken and fruit, you can mix a can of shredded cooked chicken (or the real thing… I live in an apartment, so it’s easier to do canned chicken), some Miracle Whip, halved green grapes, and some mandarin oranges. Sounds kind of gross, but it’s really incredibly good
I also go for Thermi of soup in winter… slurpable on the run.
You could make a batch of hummus on Sunday night, keep it in a tupperware, and spread it in a pita or 2 every morning before school. Bring a baggie of olives, sliced bell peppers and red onion, spinach, tomatoes, or cucumbers along to stuff into the pitas. I think this will meet most of your requirements: cheap, healthy, easy to make, doesn’t spoil quickly, and filling.
Buy an insulated lunch bag, Ziploc containers, and sturdy, leaf-proof small containers. (RubberMaid is a good choice.)
Make a big salad, à la Seinfeld. Lots of cheese, vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, etc.), on a bed of mixed greens (radicchio, romaine, and what not in a bag), topped with croutons and maybe some sunflower seeds. Put that in the Ziploc container.
Fill the small container with your favorite salad dressing. Put it all in the lunch bag with a juice box, and maybe a bun, and of course, a fork.
Just ignore LolaCocaCola, I think it sounds yummy.
You could also make some wraps. Get some tortillas, and some lunchmeats, and roll them up with a leaf of lettuce and some tomato.
Roast beef and muenster, ham and swiss, turkey and gouda…whatever you like. Add the lettuce and tomato or peppers or onions and you’re all set.
Wrap it up tightly in plastic wrap.
Cold stir-fry is good. Also dandan noodles- cook a bunch of chinese egg noodles or vermicelli. Combine a half-cup veg or meat broth, some peanut butter or sesame paste, garlic, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Blend or mix the goop, and then stir it into the noodles. It’s good with hot peppers, green onion, and (if you’re not a vegetarian) cold chicken.
Hummous is great stuff- I had a hummous and cheddar sandwich for dinner. Anyone want to sit near me?
One thing I do is by those bags of frozen chicken breasts (budget here, no one yell at me that fresh is better, i know it is) and cook the whole bag on Sunday night, then stick them in a gallon-size ziplock and stuff them in the fridge. There are 1001 very quick, very yummy things you can do with cooked chicken breasts–not least, chopping them up and shoving them in a bun/pita/tortilla with cheese/bbq sauce/salad dressing.
