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Doable Challenge #9: Healthy Homemade Lunches

Toss the takeout and make your own power lunch with easy recipes and nutritionist tips

Doable Challenges: Lunch

A re you trying to increase energy to get through your workday (or workout), lose weight, or generally improve your diet? Eating lunch—one that's healthy and delicious—is as important as having a wholesome breakfast. "No skipping lunch!" emphasizes Tina Ruggiero, M.S., R.D., author of The Truly Healthy Family Cookbook: Mega-Nutritious Meals That Are Inspired, Delicious and Fad-Free. It's one of your three main opportunities during the day to not only satisfy your appetite but also get crucial nutrients into your body for overall well-being.

In fact, rather than grabbing a hasty take-out lunch or mindlessly munching away on snacks because "there's no time to eat," the best way to eat better at lunchtime—or at any other meal, for that matter—is to make your own food. Doing so empowers you to make healthier choices, since you control the ingredients and portion sizes. And Ruggiero points out that even if you end up having to eat at your desk, as she does four days a week, "having packed a healthy lunch gives you peace of mind" that you're taking care of yourself, no matter how tight your schedule.

Think you don't have time to make a healthy homemade lunch? Think again. The recipes and tips gathered here can help make a healthier lunch easier and quicker to prepare. Take Ruggiero's advice and then challenge yourself to create a healthy lunch every day—including weekends—for the next month. Soon, "you'll be in the groove of planning ahead and asking yourself what you can pack the night before," she notes. And chances are, the habit will stick. That is, as long as you're following another of Ruggiero's principles: Make lunches that are not just nutritious but delicious—and even exciting. "A healthy lunch is one you want to eat," she affirms.

  • Shop Smartly

"If you don't have junk, you can't eat it," proclaims Ruggiero. It's a simple concept that requires some self-discipline. Next time you stock up at the supermarket, instead of reflexively filling the cart with the same old standbys, she suggests shopping for lunch foods in much the same way as you would scour the racks for a great deal on clothes: Scout around and be selective. Take time to explore the inner aisles of the grocery store, where you'll find healthy pantry items such as tahini paste, ancient grains, pastas, dried beans and lentils, and new types of bread and bread stand-ins to try, such as pumpernickel, grainy rolls, naan, flatbreads, and whole-wheat tortillas.

Above all, be adventurous, and "try things you wouldn't ordinarily go for," Ruggiero advises. For example, canned tuna—"the unsung hero of the pantry"— is often on shopping lists since "it's cheap, it lasts a long time, and it's extraordinarily healthy, especially for the brain and vision." But don't stop there: Check out the other canned and cured fish, such as sardines, kippers, mackerel, salmon, and trout. Two of her sandwich recipes, Kippers and Bits (canned kippers or sardines) and Scandalous Scandinavian (smoked salmon and hard-boiled eggs), take advantage of these highly nutritious—and inexpensive—sources of protein. And when you do head to the outer aisles, stock up on hardier flavor-boosters such as chiles and lemons in addition to other fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

  • Say "Yes" to Fats, Proteins, and Carbs

"You don't need to exclude foods to have a healthy meal," stresses Ruggiero. If you shortchange yourself by eating a skimpy lunch that doesn't fill you up, you'll most likely overdo it on snacks throughout the rest of the day. Instead, plan a lunch that will satisfy you and include all the macronutrients: proteins, carbohydrates, and, perhaps most important, fat. Here's how to plan a balanced lunch:

  • Put protein on the menu. Lean meats, soy, fish, beans, nuts, or low-fat dairy are excellent sources of protein. Not only does protein help preserve muscles and provide a sense of satiety, but it's also "critical for functions you don't think about, such as making hormones and enzymes, repairing tissue, and keeping immunity strong."

  • Don't demonize carbs. They're not all bad; you just want to focus on the ones that are most beneficial. "Simple carbohydrates require little or no digestion," Ruggiero explains. On the other hand, complex carbohydrates— which can be found in unprocessed (or minimally processed) foods such as whole grains, beans and other legumes, and vegetables—have fiber and other beneficial nutrients, notes Ruggiero. So before you get rid of some pantry staples, think again: Ruggiero herself eats pasta several times a week, loves rice, and uses potatoes and bread to make New Delhi Belly, a stuffed naan sandwich. "Complex carbohydrates are used by every cell in the body and they're especially important to the brain, muscles, and central nervous system," she asserts. "Consumed for lunch, this macronutrient helps provide lasting energy, keeps you alert, and—if you go to the gym in the early evenings—keeps you primed for a productive workout."

  • Embrace fats. Ruggiero reminds us that "fat keeps you full." It also helps your body absorb certain nutrients, including vitamins D, E, and K. And as she points out, recent research suggests "good fats" can help protect us from free-radical damage, heart disease, and some cancers. Healthy-fat sources include olive and nut oils, canola- or olive oil–based mayonnaise, nuts, avocados, and oily fish.

  • Don't Forget Fruits and Vegetables

Remember that a truly healthy lunch should also help you hit some of your recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables. "Phytonutrients [plant compounds that include flavonoids and carotenoids], such as those found in fruit and vegetables, have powerful health-promoting abilities that we're just beginning to discover, so including fruits and vegetables at lunch—at every meal, really—can only be beneficial," says Ruggiero. So go ahead and add extra greens or sliced vegetables to your sandwich, mix an extra portion of cooked veggies into your pasta, or finish your meal with a piece of fruit.

  • Upgrade Your Sandwiches

Easy to assemble and transport, sandwiches are also easy to change up and make more nutritious. According to Ruggiero, "look at your favorite sandwiches and ask 'how can I make this healthier?'" When making over a sandwich, she likes to add crunchy or chewy textures (chopped nuts, raisins, arugula, dense breads), which make for a more satisfying eating experience. Introducing bright aromas and flavors (lemon zest, capers, and herbs) is a "simple, effortless"—and relatively inexpensive—way to perk up a sandwich without adding fat or many calories.

Ruggiero revisits the chicken salad sandwich in her Extreme Makeover Chicken Salad Sammy, making the old standard healthier by swapping out mayo in favor of Greek-style yogurt, which has more protein and less saturated fat. Texture, taste, and the healthy quotient are helped by adding grapes (sneaking a serving of fruit into your sandwich), dill and scallions (giving you an herbaceous antioxidant boost), arugula and radishes (upping your vegetable intake), walnuts (for a dose of healthy fats and protein), and multigrain bread (which has a fiber and nutrient edge over white bread). The same can be said about Ruggiero's mayo-less Tuna Tune-Up, which is bursting with flavors thanks to tapenade, roasted fennel, and mesclun.

  • Get Serious About Salads

Does the idea of leaves for lunch leave you limp? Ruggiero can relate. Add some grains, healthy fats, and a nutritious source of protein, as in Siesta Special, Ruggiero's rice, avocado, tomato, and black bean salad. She favors hearty greens like kale and arugula, and loves to build salads around satisfying whole grains like quinoa, bulgur, and barley, and different types of rice (jasmine, basmati, black). "You want complex carbs," she explains. "Half a cup of rice in your salad is not going to make you obese." Beans, canned fish, nuts, and seeds are all easy-to-add sources of protein. And don't even think about using fat-free salad dressing! Make your own salad dressing by using olive oil, nut oils, or buttermilk, all of which give you a bit of satisfying fat and will help your body absorb all the nutrients from your vegetables.

  • Plan Ahead and Utilize Leftovers

Healthy dinner leftovers—roast chicken, grilled pork loin, steamed vegetables, cooked beans and grains, and pasta—can handily be transformed into a healthy lunch. "I love having leftovers for lunch!" Ruggiero exclaims. "It's a complete meal and it's economical." Got leftover grilled salmon? Take a cue from Ruggiero, who mashes it with Greek-style yogurt and capers and then spreads it onto bread with some sliced onions. Or make a big batch of lentils or beans over the weekend to use throughout the week for salads.

Side dishes such as Red Quinoa with Pistachios as well as breakfast items like smoked salmon or frittata—use the latter to make Zucchini Tomato Frittata Sandwiches—can double up as tomorrow's lunch, too. Or simply make a double batch of a healthy dinner, such as pasta with lots of veggies that you can eat at room temperature or a chili you can reheat in the microwave.

  • Eat What You Love

Bottom line, says Ruggiero, "don't eat something just because you feel it's healthy for you"—whether for lunch or any other meal. For her, that means sometimes lunching on chicken thighs instead of a boneless, skinless breast, or passing up a plain turkey sandwich in favor of something more exciting like Crazy Cantina Chili or BLT with Avocado Spread. Ruggiero's ultimate goal is to make eating nutritious meals "a source of joy, pleasure, and satisfaction" for all. That's a challenge that's not just doable, but also palatable, over the long haul.

Megan O. Steintrager


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