Bunches of Lunches

Here I am again, making lunches. I have a few days off (I took the weekend off for the Joyride, and then I have my normal days off), but I still need to eat lunch. I’m doing intermittent fasting, so my lunch is my first meal. I want it to be a tasty one!

I figured I’d make some lunches and see if they were easy and suitable for work. I typically don’t like time consuming lunches (making them, that is), so I’m looking for quick, easy, and yummy. I wouldn’t mind healthy as well… The first one on the list was a hummus wrap.

I have a couple of almond flour tortillas instead of flour. I put a generous amount of hummus on them along with some fresh feta. I got the feta from my nearest Market of Choice, and it comes in a container with liquid (water? I have no idea) which keeps the feta fresh and moist. It’s so much better than some of the very dry feta cheeses I’ve had! Next came some kalamata olives and thinly sliced red onion. Lastly, I topped it off with some local microgreens. If you’re interested in microgreens, you can click right here. That’s a website for a local farm here in Oregon.

I’m telling you; this was really more like a hummus taco than a hummus wrap. But it was very good and quite satisfying. I have no problems making this one again for a work lunch. I’ll just have to keep a lot of the ingredients separated so things don’t get soggy. But I’m okay with that!

For my next wrap, I decided to use some smoked salmon my sweetheart got me a little while ago. I picked up some fresh dill and some chive & onion cream cheese (I have a crush on Tillamook, seriously). I still had some microgreens left, so I figured I would add those as well.

I put them in a layer and added some capers for a nice salty punch. This was good, but definitely smelled fishy… which people at work are very sensitive about. I probably won’t make it for work. Also, it was a bit on the dry side, so I think I need to add a juicy vegetable.

Next was more of a dinner thing than lunch, although it would reheat easily enough. I would not mind reheating this for lunch! This is cheesesteak on a portobello mushroom. I think I should throw in the caveat that I have never had an authentic Philly cheesesteak sandwich (in PA, that is), so I take liberties with this recipe that would probably leave a purist gaping in horror. You’ve been warned.

I grabbed some white onion, green bell pepper, and lean flank steak for the main filling.

I cleaned the gills and stem out of the mushroom and put some olive oil on it. I poured the oil without getting the brush out first, so I ended up smoothing it out evenly (ish) with my finger. Then I added some garlic salt stuff. Mmmm.

After baking for 10 minutes or so, the mushrooms were ready.

Did I mention how much I love Tillamook? Well, I do.

When the veggies were cooked, I threw in the flank steak at a high heat and cooked it quickly. The meat stayed nice and tender! Then I piled it all on and threw a slice of provolone on it. Back in the oven it went, to be broiled.

This was pretty darn good. Yes, you need a fork and knife to eat it. I could have put the other portobello on top to make a sandwich, but I think we all know how messy that would have been.

For my last lunch, this was an at-home lunch. I was feeling good and wanted to give myself a little treat. I’m making a bit of a fancy egg sandwich. I got my truffle mayonnaise out, sliced up a green onion, and decided to try out some radish sprouts.

If you’re like me, you’ve struggled with boiling eggs so that they come out with perfectly yellow yolks and the shell peels right off. Well, suffer no more! You can read how the Pioneer Woman boils eggs HERE! I followed her directions, and my eggs, as you can see, came out wonderfully. Thanks, Ree!

Smash up your eggs and put the mayo in to taste/texture. I like to keep the onions out to add as garnish.

Lastly, I toasted up some bread (using Tillamook butter, no joke). Since I didn’t want to eat a TON of bread, I have some of the small slices. Fewer calories, less flour. I consider it a splurge. Today, I bought my first “paleo bread,” so I’ll have to update here if I try it and it turns out tasty. But for this sandwich, I used regular whole grain bread.

Now, come on. Is that the cutest, most delicious egg salad sandwich you’ve ever seen, or what?? I can tell you with full honesty, between the buttered toast and the truffle mayonnaise, this was a decadent sandwich!

Here’s what I learned:

1. I don’t make wraps; I just make different forms of tacos.
2. Radish sprouts are very slippery and make my sandwich slippery (but still delicious).
3. Tillamook is the best for cheeses, sour cream, etc. Okay, I didn’t learn that one – I already knew it.
4. Sweet pea microgreens taste just like raw sweet peas! The microgreens are expensive, but I really enjoyed them.

Aaaand, that’s a wrap! (Or not.)